


Stellar Ranger Dark Star Series One: Hollow Hearts

by GraciousVictory



Series: Stellar Ranger Dark Star [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Bisexuality, Cute, Dark, F/F, F/M, Gen, Homosexual Male Character, Lesbian Character, M/M, Magical Girls, Mind Control, Mind Rape, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Original Character(s), Original Universe, Other, Underage Smoking, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-18
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2017-12-12 06:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 115,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraciousVictory/pseuds/GraciousVictory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A teenage girl must come to terms with both her status as a newly recruited agent in a magical police force, as well as a dangerous legacy and the machinations of several deadly forces, all seeking to use her power for themselves.</p><p>In Series One, June Hespia finds herself in a new town, with new friends and new responsibilities.  While she settles into her position as a Junior Ranger of the secret organization of magic users known as the Stellar Rangers, a new danger looms to threaten all of Solar City, a force much more dangerous than cheerleaders with aggressive crushes or hot high schoolers--the powerful Baron Stellos, a man with a loyal army from beyond the Solar System, who wants to add this planet's souls to his already impressive collection.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Episode One:  June in September

**Author's Note:**

> The first couple chapters are a little rough, even after editing. Even so, trust me, they get better. Bear with me, and enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: I'm currently in the process of re-working the first ten chapters in order to get them more in line with the current quality of the work, ie Series 3, and also correcting some things that ended up contradicting canon as I've altered the story's intended path. So if you're a new reader and hit a rough patch, I might not have finished editing by then, so, again, bear with me.

    Everyone, throughout the universe, is born with a guiding star.  A person's guiding star was there before that person was born, and it will keep guarding, in all likelihood, long after that person's death, when someone new is born to that star.  Every being in the universe is tied to their star by a mystical force, present in every sapient living being as their Star Heart, a link empowers and shapes their very soul.

    There are a few stars, known as Power Stars, that burn brighter in certain people.  These stars give them incredible powers.  Some use theirs for good, others evil, and yet others, neither.  In order to combat those who abuse their stellar magic, an organization of people with special powers, known as the Stellar Rangers, was formed. It keeps the peace across the Universe as best it can from those who would attack the Star Hearts of its inhabitants.

 

*****

 

    "June!  June, you're going to be late!"  Came a deep, male voice from the other side of June Hespia's bedroom door.  The teen herself was snoring heavily, her only response to the pounding being to twitch slightly and mumble under her breath.  June was a tall, scrawny girl, wearing a black nightshirt.  Her slight frame, skin so white her albinism could not entirely explain it, and knee-length, fluffy, white hair gave her an eerie, delicate appearance, that was marred by the horrible sound that her snoring produced.

    "June!  Get off your lazy rear and out of bed!  The Stellar Rangers are waiting for you!  You're gonna be late!"  Her brother, Julius, called as he pounded on the door.  He looked the complete opposite of his sister--tall, rugged, olive-skinned,and muscular, with black hair and deep brown eyes.  The nineteen-year-old wore a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a batter-stained apron.

    "In a..huh?"  June said sleepily.  Her red eyes fluttered open.  She yawned and stretched as she gave her clock a sleepy glance.

    "Oh, heck!  I'm late!"  June hopped out of bed and immediately started getting dressed. She knocked over a stack of boxes in the process, which caused posters of people wearing white makeup and black clothing all over her floor. “Nonononono I need to make a good impression!”

    Julius sighed from the other side of the door.  “Did you forget to set an alarm, or did you turn it off in your sleep, again?

    June opened the door, pulling on her black combat-boots in the process and straightening her pleated skirt.  She wore black fishnets on her arms and legs, and had a black t-shirt on as well.  Her waist length white hair was bound and braided, kept in place with black ribbons.

    "Okay Jules, I'm ready."  She gave her brother a wide, apologetic smile with black-painted lips.  “Sorry.  I think I did?  But I didn’t explode this one, so that’s progress.”

    He handed her a plate of pancakes and a fork.  "Come on, you can eat in the car.  We need to book it."

 

    June looked out the windows of her brother's beat-up old sports car.  Every building was topped with windmills and solar panels.  "...I guess our power bill isn’t going to be too bad, huh?”

    "Solar City's  the biggest proponent of alternative energy in the world."  Julius replied as they drove down the busy city streets amidst a sea of electric cars. "Mom and Dad would've loved this place."

    "Yeah..."  June replied.  Her smile fell for a moment, and then she saw the blue and white tower, floating over the Solar City skyline.  "Oh wow!  That's it, right?"

    Her brother nodded, though he had trouble seeing it without a great deal of straining.  With just a mundane Star Heart, he was not able to see the Tower as anything but hazy and indistinct, and even then, he could only see that because he already knew it was there. "You ready, sis?"

    She smiled as widely as she could and nodded.  "Oh yeah, piece of cake."

 

    About half an hour later, the Hespia siblings approached the fountain in the center of the park.

    “...How do we...?”  Julius looked around.  He saw joggers and people walking their dogs, but no magical tower entrance.  “They said to meet here.”

    “My guess is--”

    June did not finish that sentence, as the next moment, a flash of blue light surrounded them.  When it faded, they found themselves in a room with a wide platform covered in arcane symbols.  Statues and portraits surrounded the platform--some of humans, some of alien creatures that June could not even begin to identify, all wearing a badge of a symbol that was much like a starburst and a compass rose.

“--Magic?”  June said, and then repeated, with considerably more wonder in her voice, “Magic.”

    “You must be June and Julius.”  A young woman, around Julius’s age, said.  She was blonde, with green eyes and a bright smile.  She was wearing a white blouse and tan skirt.  “I’m Leah.  My dad, Novias Vember, has been really, really excited to meet you two.”

Julius and June both stared at her for a moment before Julius said.  “Uh.  Yes.  I’m Julius.  That’s obvious.  We’re here for the aptitude tests.”

    “Right this way!”  Leah motioned to a flight of spiral stairs and started up them.  “Dad’s going to handle all the superhero stuff.  Meanwhile, we can talk about what it means to be a sponsor--what your responsibilities are, what you’re expected to do, and what the advantages we can offer are.”

    “Right.”  He said, trying desperately not to look at her rear.

    “Sure.”  June said, trying desperately not to look at her rear.

    _This is it._  Butterflies swarmed June’s stomach.  They reached a landing on the staircase, and found themselves in a reception area.   _I’m going to be a hero.  I get to help people and maybe learn how not to explode things so much.  Or.  Explode things creatively?  I just need to oh wow._

    A girl stepped out into the room.  She was a couple years older than June.  She was tall and thin--taller and thinner both than June.  Her eyes were purple, and her rather short hair was black speckled with white, like the night sky in miniature.  Her ears were pierced in just about every way ears could be pierced.  She wore a short, black skirt and a black tank top, as well as some fancy boots and stockings.

    She was the single most beautiful girl June’s tiny bisexual heart had ever seen.

    “You’re June?”  She asked.

    "Uh-huh."

    “Senine Nocturne.  Stellar Ranger Void, your future boss.”  She jerked a thumb behind her.  “I’m here to take you to Old Man Vember so he can tell you what’s what.  Any questions?”

    "Uh-huh."

    Senine sighed and snapped her fingers. June found herself pulled downward, and stumbled.  This also knocked her out of her attraction-induced trance.

    "Oh, uh, sorry.  Um..lead the way?"  June gave Senine a mortified blush

    Senine smirked and turned on her heel.  “It’s okay, Bleach, I know I’m hot.  Nice boots, by the way.”

    June’s heart skipped a beat, and she scurried to follow Senine up another flight of spiral stairs, deeper into the Tower.

 

    It turned out, in contrast to June’s mental image of a superhero wearing wizard robes, the leader of the local Stellar Rangers was a smiling, middle aged man with a slight paunch and a well made, brown suit.  He was balding, and he had a grey-streaked orange-red beard, and, to June, looked more like a college professor than a magical warrior for truth and justice.

    "Hello Miss Hespia, I am Novias Vember.  Senine, go find Miss Schumacher and Miss Levey, if you would be so kind."  His voice was upbeat and jolly.

    Senine rolled her eyes.  “I GUESS, but you’re still not my real dad.”  She waved to June and headed out of the training room.

    The room itself was wide, with padded floors and several training dummies.  As June watched, the training dummies re-arranged themselves into a distinct line.

    "It's good to be here...thank you so much for the opportunity."  June did not take her eyes off Senine until she was gone.  Once she had gone out the door, she turned fully to Mr. Vember.  “Really.  Letting me be a superhero is one thing, but giving Julius money’s really nice of you.”

    "No, thank you.  We're a big city, but we have not had many Rangers since an...incident, a decade or so ago.  Not that that has any pressing relation to what we are doing here, today."  Vember’s smile was enough to banish any thoughts of follow-up questions from June, who was still devoting a lion’s share of brain cells to Senine.  "So, which star do you draw power from, Miss Hespia?"

    "Nemesis, the Black Sun."  June said.  Vember’s expression fell for just a moment, before he let out a good-natured chuckle.

    "That's a tall claim, my dear.  Why not give me a demonstration?"

    “...With or without exploding something?”

    Mr. Vember laughed.  “We can do both, if you would like.”

    June nodded.  “Okay.  Uh.  Maybe close your eyes for a second?”

    June lifted her hand, and gestured, and a bright light flooded the room.  June let out a squawk of pain and covered her eyes.  “Heck heck heck I didn’t follow my own advice.”

    She gestured again, and whole room was filled with darkness before that, too faded.  She looked over at the training dummies, and then swiped one hand at one.  A blast of dark energy flew forth from her hand and smashed into the dummy, obliterating it with ease.  She spun and threw a ball of light at another, and burned it away into ash.

    June held out her hands, and summoned weapons to them.  They were both daggers with curved blades.  The first had a white blade and a black hilt, and the second had a black blade and a white hilt.  June darted forward and slashed two deep gashes into one of the dummies before she turned around and slashed it again on the way back to Mr. Vember.

    "Albedo and Umbra...the Eclipse Blades.  Impressive.  I was wondering when the Heart of Nemesis would be reincarnated.  You seem well suited to it."  Vember said, smiling. June was too excited to see that his smile was a mixture of fond and forced.  "Is there anything else?"

    June dispelled her daggers and scratched her head.  "Well...there is one more thing...but it's pretty powerful.  I don't really want to do it unless I have to.  I call it the Brilliant Darkness Evolution.  I...blew up our garage trying it out?  When we had a garage.  I don’t think we’re going to get our security deposit back, here."

    "Oh my, I've heard of that spell.  It is very difficult to master.  You should be proud."  Had June looked closer, she may have noticed the ghost of worry on Vember’s face, but, drunk on the moment, she payed it no mind.  "Well, I suppose it is time to give you the spiel.  As an agent of the Rangers, you will be subject to missions--these will take priority.  However, in the field, you will have autonomy.  Anything suspicious should be reported back here, but don't endanger innocents to do so.  I’m speaking as though ours is a life of constant danger, but, Solar City has not had very many crises.  Now, we don't have a uniform or anything like that--some of the girls wear some fairly outlandish things, but more often than not, there simply isn't time in the event of a disaster.  However, we do have this."  Mr. Novias Vember pulled a small badge--a symbol somewhat like a star, somewhat like a compass rose.  "Keep this on you, it's a reality perception dampener.  Wear it, and you will naturally repulse those not tied to a Power Star.  It will keep innocents from both finding out your secret identity and from getting too close if there is a fight going on.  And if someone does see you with this on, they will quickly forget it was you they saw...unless, of course, they have some magic in them."

    June eagerly took the badge and stuck it in her messenger bag.  "Anything else?"

    Vember chuckled.  "You're certainly an eager one.  You've met Miss Nocturne--she tends to be solo on most missions as a full Stellar  Ranger.  Now, I will introduce you to our other two junior Rangers.  They will be your partners--they go to the same school you do, so the three of you should probably make an effort to..."

    A small crash outside the room interrupted him.  "Ah, that must be Miss Levey.  Come on, I'll introduce you to them."

    Outside the room was a girl who was laying on the ground, groaning, next to a broken lamp and a knocked-over chair.  She was around June’s age, and she was shorter and a bit chubby.  She had shoulder length, straight, electric blue hair set in a pair of high pigtails and bright green eyes.  She was wearing a blue t-shirt a green heart on it, a blue skirt, and striped leggings.

    "I swear, someone keeps moving that lamp!."  The blue-haired girl sat up and looked up at June.  June offered her a hand, which she took.

    "Hey!  I'm June, June Hespia."  June strained with her meager weight and muscles and helped Auggie to her feet.

    "Auggie Levey, aka Stellar Ranger Volt"  Augusta said.  “A pleasure!  So, what’s your deal?  I’m electric!”

    "Miss Levey, we've talked about using roller-skates inside.  Especially given your rather enhanced speed."  Mr. Vember’s scolding had absolutely no malice or force behind it.

    Auggie gave a dismal sigh.  “Okay, okay, but hear me out.  It’s like training!”

    "I don't have a name yet, and I have light and dark powers."

    "Cool!  Wait, you get two powers?  That’s so neat!  I’ve never even HEARD of that, before.”

    “And that is Miss Schumacher.”

    June had not noticed her until Mr. Vember pointed her out.  She had a book in her lap and gave June a warm smile.  She was about average height, and had an average build, between June and Auggie’s.  She had long, dark green hair was was in a ponytail behind her, and a pair of glasses over her yellow eyes.  She wore a tan blouse and a forest green skirt.  “Cassiopeia Schumacher, or, well, Cassie.  My codename is Stellar Ranger Vital, though we never have much occasion to use them.  It is very nice to meet you, June.”

    "It nice to meet you, too!  Both of you.  IIIII did not really know I would need a codename."

    "Well, Miss Hespia, what is it you want your codename to be?"

    She thought for a few moments.  "Uh.  Well.  I guess...Dark Star?”

    “Oh, good.”  Auggie said in a teasing tone.  “Another goth.”

 

    Julius walked through the halls of the Tower with Leah.  

    "So, I’ve never really done this, before.  Dad covered it for everyone else, so, I’m sorry if it turns out I miss something.”

    "It's alright, really.  Besides, it’s not every day I get led around a magic tower by a cute girl."  Julius regretted saying that the very  moment he had said it.

    Leah, however, just smiled at that.  "Unfortunately, it's business right now, Mr. Hespia.  Now, you're June's legal guardian?"

    He nodded.  "Yeah.  My mom and dad died in an accident a couple years ago and we really don't have any other available slash willing relatives.  We were in the custody of some friends of the family until I hit eighteen.  I've been her guardian ever since."

    Leah put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, at which Julius smiled.  "Naw, I'm a lot more over it than I have been, really.  June’s still a bit rattled, though."

    "Did something happen with her..."

    "No, nothing like that.  She just wishes she could have done something...her powers only manifested afterwards, so there's nothing really she could have done.”  He gave a small, fond laugh.   “And did they ever manifest."

    Leah realized her hand was still on his shoulder, blushed slightly, and pulled it away.  "So, what do you do for money?  We have a small allowance that we can give you to make things easier.  From what I’ve seen, it’ll cover your rent and utilities pretty handily, but not much else."

    "We have a small inheritance from our parents--for now, I have a job as an assistant to the Jr. High's football coach.  It doesn't pay much, but it's something while I look for a real job."

    Leah made a note on her clipboard.  "Well, as her sponsor and legal guardian, it’s your job to  cover for June when she has to leave school for official reasons.  Essentially, your job as sponsor is to keep her well provided for and keep her activities out of suspicion.  The public can't know about the existence of magi people among them.  They’d panic, among other things."

    "Right, well, that sounds do-able.  Anything else?"  The elder Hespia replied, just as his sister, a blue-haired girl on rollerskates, a thoughtful-looking green-haired girl, and Mr. Vember stepped in.  June rushed up to Julius, with Auggie in tow.  She was beaming.

    "Hey, look, I'm a Stellar Ranger!"  June said and held up her newly acquired badge

    Leah smiled and shook her head.  "Nothing except to congratulate you and welcome you to the organization.”

 

*************

 

    Above Solar City, far above the sky-scrapers and the hidden tower, was a castle.  It was absolutely huge, and covered in a magic dome that kept it unseen and full of oxygen.  Countless thrusters and rockets dotted the underside of the castle as it slowly lowered into the atmosphere.

    In the courtyard of this castle were hundreds of aliens, and despite their varied appearances, they all wore the same red and gold uniform, each emblazoned with the same symbol--an empty heart, surrounding a starburst.  They stood before a large, bulky man, wearing a crown filled with glittering lights and a mask that showed a mustachioed, humanoid face.  Next to him was a gangly robot in a red and yellow jester's outfit, its head a monitor not unlike a television screen.  It wore a two-tailed jester’s cap.

    "My loyal subjects!  I, Baron Stellos, have declared Solar City to be my new source for my collection.  And now, my Hollow Heart Army, let the gathering commence."

    The troops cheered.  

    And thus the first year of Stellar Ranger Dark Star’s harrowing career began.


	2. Episode Two:  Hollow Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June and company's first encounter with Baron Stellos's Hollow Hearts.

In the hovering castle, Baron Stellos sat at his ornate golden throne.  He wore beautifully woven, gold-colored (and threaded)  robes that had red fur trim around the edges.  His shoulders were especially bulky under his finery, though they were tailored to hide any hint of whatever contraptions he was wearing.  At his side was the spindly jester-robot.  

His hall was a long, expansive affair, lined on either side with his "gallery"-- Star Hearts from across the universe, severed from their owners and set upon the walls like jewels.  Hundreds and hundreds of Hearts filled his walls, each the finest specimens he could find.  Around the round top of his throne were five especially bright and vibrant star hearts--one violet, one blue, one red, one white, and one yellow.

"Finneous, report on the Earth city below."  Stellos ordered.  The robot turned its screen to the Baron, which then began to show idyllic scenes of Solar City.

"Solar City.  Population:  Five hundred thousand, three hundred forty two.  Crime Rate:  Lowest on planet.  Pollution:  Lowest on Planet.  Called "World's Happiest City".  Suggested that inhabitants have high quality Star Hearts due to this fact."  The robot’s voice was high pitched and whining.

"Stellar Ranger presence?"

"Minimal.  One retired Ranger and less than half a dozen junior Rangers.  Most powerful at last census was Stellar Ranger Void, who draws her power from a Black Hole.  Even with her presence, possibility of success in harvesting enough Hearts in time for dinner party with minimal casualties:  95.666667%."

The Baron smiled and twirled his mustache.  "Perfect!  I will have the most vibrant hall in the Million Baronies in no time!  Commander Brush!"

A very tall, grey-skinned, thin-mustached man in a red and gold military dress uniform knelt in front of the throne. He had the same empty-heart badge that the other Hollow Hearts possessed.  "Yes my liege?"

"You have an eye for the arts.  Go down to Solar City and find a brilliant young artist for me to include in my collection."

Commander Brush saluted, and then faded in a gold flash.

Baron Stellos gave a jovial chuckle.  "Artists always do make the best centerpieces."

 

******

 

"June!  June, wake up already!  You're going to be late for school!" Came Auggie's voice at her door.  Unlike Julius, Auggie was not afraid to be loud.

June jolted awake and stared at her clock in horror.  "Nooooo!"  She then proceeded to rush around the room, throwing on a white shirt with a cartoon skull in black on it, a pair of baggy black pants that would have been loose fitting even if she had the hips to support them, and her combat boots before opening the door, lipstick in mid-application and her hair still messy and unbound.

"Your hot brother was right.  You do sleep a lot."  Auggie said with a teasing grin.  Her hair was in its standard pair of tails, and she wore a blue tank top with a yellow lightning bolt in the middle and a pair of extremely baggy--even moreso than June's pants--jeans, which were held up tenuously by the blue-haired girl's hips.  She had a pair of sneakers on and her rollerskates around her neck, suspended by tied-together shoestrings.  

"First of all, ew.  Second of all, explosions take a lot of energy to make."  June continued to tame her hair.

"Oh wow, you really like music.  How many guitars do you have?  Are you any good?"  Augusta poked her head into June’s room.

"Five, technically, but three are broken.  And yeah, I’m pretty good!  Hey Cassie."  June replied.  Cassie, who was wearing much the same thing she had before, only a green blouse and white skirt, smiled.

"Hello!  I do hope you’re ready for your first day.  Unfortunately, you will have to endure Auggie and I as tour guides."

June took a pair of toaster pastries and put them both in her mouth as she headed for the apartment’s front door.  “Well, as long as we don’t end up cannibalizing each other, I should be good.”

“Well, damn, Junie.”  Auggie said as they started for the elevator.  “Now the surprise is ruined.”

 

On their way to school, which was not very far from the building June’s apartment was in, June asked, "So, does Senine go to this school, too?"

"Naw, and good riddance, too.  The witch is fifteen, so she's in the high school.  The high school and junior high are right next to each other, though, so she takes some time out of her busy day of bitchiness to torment us every now and then."  Auggie was skating around her friends as they walked, and said this while moving backwards in front of them.

"She didn't seem so bad."  June sighed, a dreamy expression on her face.  Auggie and Cassie shared a look.

"Oh, hecking hell.  You have a crush on Senine, don’t you?”  Auggie frowned.  “Are you gay or bi or something?”

"Bi."  June replied, and gave a wistful sigh.  "And wow, is Senine ever hot."

"No, Senine, like you, needs to each a sandwich.  Now your brother...mmmmm."  Auggie’s sigh mirrored June’s.  "Thoughts of him'll keep me warm through the winter."

"I am  _ so _ not hearing this."  June tried to put her hands over her ears, but this meant her parasol was moved out of the way of the sun, so she had to remove one hand to block it.

"Cassie, help me out here. Julius equals fine, right?"

Cassie nodded.  "Yes.   My apologies, June, your brother is, as a scientist would classify, damn fine.”

"He’s my  _ brother _ .  He is not hot.  How would you like it if I started ogling your brother?”

“Well.”  Auggie said as she rolled around the group, again.  “For me, I’d be disappointed but not surprised.  For Cassie, I’d have you put on a watchlist.”

June made a frustrated noise.  “No, see that red-head frenching that skinny blue-haired guy?  Those guys are...uh.  Um.  Wow."  June began before her brain shut off.

The first boy was an athletic, handsome redhead, with bright blue eyes and flame red hair.  He was, out of the two of them, clearly the more aggressive, as he had the other boy pressed to a nearby wall.  He was wearing a white t-shirt and red jeans.

The second boy was very, very pretty, with long, blue hair that was starting to show some brown roots and blue eyes.  He was very slightly taller than the other boy, and he was wearing a blue fishnet shirt over a tank top, as well as a pair of black, tight pants.

"That would be Hal and Jordy. They’re in Senine’s class.  Great way to wake up in the morning, isn't it?"  Auggie nudged June with a shameless smirk.  Cassie, on the other hand, was feigning politely looking away.

"Hey Hal, J!"  Auggie called out.  The two older boys stopped and looked at the girls--Jordy, the blue-haired one, looked very embarrassed, whereas Hal merely flashed a sheepish grin and waved.  

"Hey Auggie, Cassie.  Who's your friend there?"

"j...June.  I'm June.  Hi."  June managed to sputter.  Auggie snickered and slapped her on the back.  "This is our new friend.  She's about to start classes today.  Junie, this is Hal.  He's big on the fencing and martial arts clubs.  That's Jordy--he's the best artist in the high school.  He's had shows and everything."

Jordy looked at his feet and got a bashful smile.  "I'm not that good, I just like to paint.  But.  Thanks." 

"Well, we'd better get to class, and so should you girls.  Nice meeting you, June."  Hal smiled as the two boys wandered off.

"Hey, Junie, remember what you said about liking boys and girls?"  Auggie said, smirking.  June nodded.  "Well, Hal and Senine too."

June looked like she had just about recovered her mind.  That fact sent her right back into off-mode.  Cassie smiled and patted her new friend on the back, and the three made their way to class.

 

Hal, in his off-period, leaned against an outer wall of the modest high school, alone and deep in thought.  

_ Is June a new Ranger like the rest of them?  There’s something...off, about her aura.  Hopefully, she didn’t notice the same thing about me. _  Hal’s contemplative expression melted into a smile when Jordy walked up to him with a bashful look on his face.

"Hey Hal...I'm going to need to stay a few hour after class.  I have a big project due tomorrow and I'm going to need the art supplies in the lab to do it."  Jordy shifted and did not quite look Hal in the eye as he spoke.

"Sure, no problem.  We can watch that movie...or not watch, as it were, tomorrow.  Good luck."  Hal smiled, and Jordy hugged him.

"Thanks, I promise, I’ll, uh, make it up to you.  I have to go to class."  He kissed Hal and then threw him a smile over his shoulder as he left.

_ Jordy... _  Hal sighed to himself.   _...I’m so sorry I have to keep lying to you.  I’ll make it up to you, too.  I promise. _

 

"Finally! One day of school that I’ve made it through without falling asleep once!"  June cheered as she, Cassie, and Auggie loitered outside of the Jr. High building.  

"Actually June...fifth period."  Cassie said.

The memories came flooding back.  "You're right.”  June sighed.  “I..." Something in the air suddenly shifted, and June stopped talking and looked around, her eyes drifting towards the High School.

"Hey,  Junie, everything alright?"

 

Jordy walked into the art building, and was surprised to see a very tall man in red and gold admiring his art.

"Can I help you?" Jordy felt uneasy, and he had no idea why.  He took a step back, into the doorway.

"Yes.  Are you the artist of these?"  Whoever he was, his accent was completely unfamiliar to Jordy, and there was a quality to his voice that gave Jordy goosebumps.

"Y-yes.  I am."

The man made an appreciative noise.  "I can see your heart is fully devoted to your work.  You have an artist's soul....which is why I must, regrettably, do this."  The man tapped the empty gold heart outline on his chest.  It flashed, and then Jordy doubled over in pain.  From his chest, a reddish-gold spark emerged, floated to the insignia, and then disappeared.  Then, as Jordy collapsed, breath shallow and features blank, Commander Brush began to glow.

 

June grabbed her chest and let out an alarmed cry.  Auggie and Cassie were on either side of her in an instant.  Cassie had a hand on June’s shoulder and was channeling green energy into her.

“...There is nothing physically wrong with her.”  Cassie frowned.  “June, what is wrong?”

"Something bad just happened.  Come on, follow me!"  June said, and then darted towards the high school's art building.  Cassie and Auggie did not ask questions, and ran after her.

June had her hand on her side, and was breathing heavily as they arrived.  “Ow ow ow.”

“Seriously, Junie?  That wasn’t even THAT much of a run!”

“Shut....up...Auggie.”

“Do you still sense something?”  Cassie put her hand on June’s shoulder, and June almost instantly felt better.

June nodded.  “Yeah.  In here.”

As they walked through the door, the first thing they noticed was Jordy with eyes wide open, on the floor, catatonic.  The second was a very tall, grey skinned man in a ridiculous gold and red uniform, a gold heart with a red starburst in the middle of it on his chest.  The man was wielding a large spear that looked not unlike an ornate paintbrush and had long blue hair and a blue mustache.

Cassie knelt next to Jordy, her hands glowing with soft green energy.  Nothing happened.  "I...I don’t understand.  He’s...empty.  There’s no Star Heart."

June glared at the mysterious figure.  "It's in him.  He's taken it, I can feel it."

"Quite right, my dear.  I am Commander Brush, of the Hollow Heart Army.  This Star Heart has been claimed in the name of Baron Stellos."  His tone was calm and neutral.  "I suggest you step out of my way before I am forced to take action."

"You creep!  Give it back now!  It doesn't belong to you!"  Auggie summoned a pair of studded, blue batons that crackled with electricity.

"Correct. It belongs to the Baron, as does every Star Heart in Solar City.  Be grateful I have not come to claim yours.  Now step aside.  With this artist's Star Heart and the power from my own, you are no match for me."

June's daggers were in her hands, and Cassie was now holding a green-hafted scythe.

"Give it back now and you can leave here alive."  June sparked with black and white energy.  “What you’ve done is wrong and we can’t let you get away with it.”.

Brush laughed dismissively.  "Oh dear.  I guess I will have to get violent.  Oh well, it had to happen eventually.   When I slay you three, the Baron's mission will be ever so much easier."

"So try it."  June tried to seem like she was calm, but her heart was pounding in her chest. She had never been in a fight of any sort, before, let alone a super powered one.  There was something deep inside her, however, that cried for her to wreak vengeance, and this feeling was stronger than her trepidation.

Brush stepped forward and stabbed with his brush-spear.  June deflected it upwards and dodged out of the way, the blade striking the door rather than her.  Instead of getting stuck, the door melted into what appeared to be paint where the point hit it.

Auggie stepped back into a runner's stance, and then, in a flash, she was at Brush, shoulder-charging him with enough force to send the Hollow Heart commander flying into the side of a kiln.  In response, the tall man turned and dipped his spear into the kiln, causing the white ceramic it was made of to liquify and run over the tip like paint.  When Stellar Ranger Volt rushed him again, he made a wide stroke with his spear, creating a ceramic pole right in her path.  Going too quickly to stop, she smashed into it and stumbled to the ground.

Vital rushed to her friend, hands glowing again as she started to heal the impact-induced wounds.  Commander Brush, while she was distracted, raised his spear for a killing blow.  He was interrupted by a spinning blast of dark energy that exploded on contact, tearing away the left arm of his uniform and sending him stumbling to the side.

"Impossible...no one on file had that form of darkness power."  Brush's spear was raised again, now pointed at June.

"I'm Stellar Ranger Dark Star.  I'm new."

"You are about to be whitewash on my brush, girl."  Brush said as he rushed, spear high.  June fired a light blast into his eyes and stepped out of the way.  The Commander stumbled, and, as he was off balance, a lightning bolt fired through the air with a crack and the smell of ozone, sending Brush flying through the art building's window.  The newly revitalized Volt got to her feet, and she, Vital, and Dark Star rushed outside.

Brush was waiting for them.  In mid-air, he drew what looked to be a buzz-saw blade, which then took real form and shot towards the Stellar Rangers.  They scattered quickly, which was precisely the Hollow Heart’s plan.  He rushed towards Vital and stabbed down at her.  Cassie’s eyes widened, and she slammed her palm into the ground.  A large number of vines erupted from the ground and entangled the spear inches from Cassie's face, allowing her to roll out of the way just in time.

"This is getting tiresome."  Brush spat, pulling his brush-spear back.

"I couldn't agree more."  June replied.

The Commander laughed, and the star-in-heart symbol began to glow. His spear followed suit.  "I may use up all the power in this simple heart, but the master will forgive me if I use it to rid him of such pests."

"You can’t!  That’ll destroy Jordy."  Auggie took a step forward and gripped her batons harder.

"My dear, if I were you, I would focus on helping yourself."  

She raised her batons high. Lightning crackled around them, and she lowered her batons and spun around.  Power built all around her, and she slammed the batons down, unleashing a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning as she shouted, “Grand Dynamo!”

The blast smashed into Brush and knocked the spear from his hand, sending it twirling into the air above him.  He flew backwards and hit the ground hard on his back.

Vital reached into her pocket and threw a large collection of seeds at the prone Brush.  As soon as the seeds hit the ground, they sprouted into thorned vines and flowers that dripped some sort of noxious fluid.  "Fatal Flora!"

The Commander began to chuckle.  "You have knocked me down and mildly inconvenienced me."  He knocked away one of the plants and started to stand, only to let out a startled, pained gasp when his form started to melt and run at contact with their venom.

"The venom in those plants was paint thinner."  Cassie said simply.  "I guessed your construction would similar to what you do to the world around you.  Unpleasant, I imagine."

Brush growled and reached for his spear.  What he found was a blackened, twisted mass of lightning-blasted slag.  "Curses...but, still, I shall destroy you with the power of this Star Heart."

"No."  June was sparking more and more.  A nearby streetlight exploded in a shower of sparks.  "You have one last chance to give it back.  That's all."

"And what, little girl, will you do?  I can still annihilate you all with this Star Heart."

June's daggers disappeared, and her entire body seemed to glow with darkness, darkness that surrounded her with a bright white halo of light.  She closed her eyes and crossed her hands in front of her face.  "The Black Sun rages within me.  You now stand in its judgment."  Her eyes shot open, now white in a sea of darkness.  "Face your guilt!  Brilliant..."  The darkness receded to her hands, a spray of black light consuming both of them.  She chambered her darkly glowing fists, her body now glowing white.  "Darkness...."  June pointed at Brush.  "Evolution!"

There was a bright flash, consuming both June and Brush.  When it faded, June was on her knees, normal again.  Sparks of black and white energy and tongues of light and dark flame flicked across her, before they faded completely.

Where Brush was was now a pile of ash roughly in his shape.  A strong wind then blew these ashes away, until all that was left was his star-in-heart insignia.  The star then burst, a red-gold spark rushing from the explosion, back to where Jordy was lying.  The empty heart symbol hovered in the air.  It twisted in on itself and ran black, before it crumbled into dust and ash and blew away.

 

Back at Stellos's palace, a blue, sparkling Star Heart in his gallery flickered, flashed, and faded.

 

"Hey, Junie, you okay?"  Auggie asked.  Cassie's hands were glowing again, and, as they touched June, she felt warm and nice inside.

"She will need rest.  Whatever energy that ability channels has taken its toll on her."  Cassie pulled her hands away.  “She should be fine otherwise.”

"Wow, yeah, you’re telling me.”  June stood on shaky legs.  “ How's Jordy?"

Cassie turned and looked in the room.  "From what I can tell, he will wake, a little dehydrated, in a few minutes, but otherwise be fine.  We stopped Brush before he could do any real damage to his Star Heart."

"That's good.  So, what now?"

Auggie brushed herself off and helped June up.  "We go tell Mr. Vember what happened, and see if he knows anything about this ‘Stellos’ guy."

"Right.  Let's go."

 

*****

 

"Finneous, report on this outrage!"  Baron Stellos roared and turned to his robot.  Though his eyes were not visible below his mask, his glare was palpable.

"Unknown factor.  Recent addition of a Stellar Ranger possessing the heart of Nemesis."

"How does this affect my odds?"

"Unknown.  It either decreases them by twenty percent, or increases them by two percent."

"Explain, servant.”

Finneous’s screen began to show images of the fight, mostly focusing on June.  These flashed to a list of, and pictures of, various other peoples, human and alien, as well as what looked to be disaster zones where some sort of powerful, destructive force had laid waste.  "The Heart of Nemesis is very unstable and powerful.  If the Stellar Ranger's power increases without problems, we have a dramatic decrease in probability of a successful mission, though the odds are still favorable.  However, the heart has a 99.999999% chance of causing insanity and instability in the carrier.  The result would be that she would destroy both herself and a 76.443% chance of taking at least one of her friends with her."

Stellos thought for a moment.  "Hmm...then, my clockwork compatriot, we will have to make sure this instability will happen as quickly as possible...find out her identity.  I will have my collection and no one, especially not a child, will stop me."

 

******

 

"...and that's all, Mr. Vember."  June finished.  They were in his office, a comfortable room near the top of the tower.  Auggie was busy making sure no candy remained in the dish he had out for them.

"Stellos...Stellos...Yes, I think I have heard of him somewhere before, but only in connection with that fighting force of his, the Hollow Hearts.  The Hollow Heart Army, if the rumors are any indication, are a private fighting team of aliens put together by Stellos a long time ago.  Each member of the Army has had their Star Heart removed with a special procedure, so it can illuminate the Baron's home.  However, powerful magic links their hearts to them, giving them all the powers they could previously use."  Mr. Vember typed something on his computer as he spoke.

"It looked as though they can also take the hearts of others and use them to give them a strength boost, Mr. Vember."  Cassie began.  Her voice was filled with barely-restrained disgust.  "It sounded as though Commander Brush could have burnt the Heart out if he wished to." 

Mr. Vember looked appalled.  "That is rather horrid, to say the least.  Keep an eye out for more of these Hollow Hearts.  I will see what else I can discover concerning Stellos...and be careful, girls.  I will have Senine contacted.  It sounds as though in this you will need all the help you can get, should he continue his assault on Solar City."

 

******

 

Hal waved goodbye as Jordy left the art building.  They had spend a few moments together after Hal had gotten Jordy something to drink and chided him for sleeping on the job.  Once he was out of visual range, however, Hal looked up, past the skyline, at the Tower hovering above the city.

_ That power.  Maybe June has what I need, but Stellos complicates things.  I’ll need to act carefully.  There’s far, far too much riding on this for me to screw up now. _


	3. Episode Three:  Puppy Love

Baron Stellos stood in front of his throne and bowed before the woman in his presence.   She wore the outfit of some low-quality showman--a striped suit made of contrasting patterns of fabric, all of which were gaudy on their own. Her face was a dull mannequin face with no real facial features, only grooves where they should have been.  She had no hair, just the top-hat that matched her black and white spotted bowtie.  Suspended from each of her four arms' hands was a different marionette cross with a dull, unpainted marionette suspended from it.

"Ah, the Puppetrix.  I thank you for coming on such short notice."

The Puppetrix tipped her hat and said nothing.  Stellos thought she might have been smiling, but it was difficult to tell.

"I have a job for you...I want you to have one of your puppets pose as a normal human teenager and spy on the girl with the Heart of Nemesis.  We will attack while you are in the field, and draw her and her allies out.  I want you to tell me everything you learn about her--who she is, who her friends and family are, who her acquaintances and teachers are, everything."

The Puppetrix bowed.  From somewhere inside her suit, a hollow, haunting voice whispered, "Thank you, but the attack will not be necessary.  I can find something as powerful as the Heart of Nemesis on my own.  It shall be done."

 

*****

Julius got up in the morning, as he usually did, and started for June's door.  He halted, stunned, when he saw her, rather than sleeping as per usual, sitting at the dining room table.  She was giving a bowl of cereal a few apathetic pokes, and was staring through it with a deeply thoughtful and concerned expression.”

"Hey, June, what's wrong?"  Julius put a pot of coffee on and then came over to sit next to his sister.

"It's....there's a boy at school.  He got his Star Heart ripped out by these bad guys and...well, he hasn't quite been the same since.  I mean, he's lost his drive, he's not doing homework, he's not doing art like he used to, and when he does, it's like...like he's lost something."  June’s frown deepened.  "Mr. Vember says it's to be expected, and he should be fine in a week or so...but...what if it's permanent?  Just because I wasn't fast enough he...he might lose a part of himself.  For good."

Julius leaned over and gave his sister a one-armed hug.  "Hey, don't be like this.  He's better than he would be if you'd done nothing, right?"

"Well, yeah, but.."

"But nothing.  You did great, sis.  He'd be dead at best right now if you hadn't helped him, and that Hollow Heart soldier may have killed Cassie and Auggie, or at least hurt them badly."

June looked down.  "But...why can't I stop feeling like I failed?"

Her brother sighed, hugged her again, and then got up.  He moved to the fridge and removed a slab of bacon and a carton of eggs.  "Because you're a hero, June.  You always have been.  Do you remember when you found that fish in that puddle, after we went walking after the heavy rain?  And you spent an hour trying to get it back in, and when you did, you fell into the lake and twisted, like, half your limbs?"

"...not really."  June lied.

"You spent hours worrying that maybe it was the wrong lake."  Julius let out a nostalgic laugh.  June mumbled something about it being a valid concern to herself.

It was then that Auggie and Cassie came through the door without knocking.  Auggie went right past Julius and June and said, “Hey Julius!”  She walked right up to June’s door and knocked on it.  “Junie!!!  Get up!”

Cassie looked at Auggie, and then at June.  She gave her best friend a bemused smile.  “Augusta, dear.”

“In a minute, Cass, I’m trying to wake up Junie.”

"Hey, guys."  June said.  

Auggie jumped about a foot in the air and spun around.  "Don't startle a girl like that!  Oh, wow, Junie, you look terrible.  What’s up?  You get turned down by Senine?  Worrying about how you’re obviously gonna ask out Faye-Faye?”

"I'm just a little down today, that's all."  She responded as Julius put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her.  “And I’m not going to ask Faye out.”  She then began to wolf the food down as fast as she could.

"...How can you eat like that and be so thin?"  Cassie’s eyes were wide with shock and genuine curiosity.

"Because my metabolism's like a small furnace.  I can’t even gain weight if I tried!  And believe me, I’ve made several valiant, second-helping based attempts."  

“I’m off, I need to be there all day because of the pep rally.  Don’t spend the whole day beating yourself up, sis.”  Julius waved goodbye and then left for work.

"...I could watch him leave all day."  Auggie said dreamily.  June made a disgusted face.

"I'm trying to eat here.  Can we talk about something else?"

"Alright.  What about Faye?"  She asked in a suggestive voice.  June rolled her eyes.

"Faye's...enthusiastic."

"She's also crazy about you.  You really should go for it."  Auggie leaned over and snatched up a strip of bacon.  "Then you can get over your unhealthy Senine fixation."

June rolled her eyes.  "First of all, I don't see what's so bad about Senine.  Second, Faye's nice, yeah, but she's just not my type."

"Yeah, your type is bitchy and not interested in you."  Auggie slipped her skates on.  "Come on, let's go."

"Auggie, drop it, seriously.  I'm getting tired of you shooting down Senine."  June shouldered her bag and downed the last of the bacon.

“I agree with Auggie on this front.”  Cassie said.  “Senine has a reputation for being callous towards anything resembling a significant other, and Faye is an absolutely delightful ray of sunshine who is extremely smitten with you.”

The blue-haired girl raised her hands in a defeated motion .  "Naw, Cass, it’s okay, I'll let her see for herself.”

 

When they arrived at school, the first thing June noticed was a short, athletic, sausage-curl-headed blonde girl in a cheerleading outfit.  This was because said brown-eyed girl had launched herself at the albino girl and hugged her around the waist.

"Junie!  You're here!  I waited!"  She exclaimed as she gave June a tight squeeze.

"Faye...can't...breath..."  June gasped.  The blonde, who also had a spray of freckles across her round, cheerful face, pulled away apologetically. 

"Sorry...I was just excited to see you is all.  Oh, hi Auggie, hi Cassie!  It's a great day isn't it?"  Faye’s smile was wide and bright, and her tone was as sunny as a desert midsummer.

"Yeah!  I found five bucks just sitting on the street."  Auggie knelt down to take her skates off  "Then, later?  We based some hot college guy who was moving in and he was so shirtless, it was amazing.  June almost died.  She stepped off the corner and almost went into the street."

June, who had just recovered from the small, but freakishly strong, girl's hug, blushed and glared at Augusta.

"Hey, Junie, just tellin' it like it is.  Back me up here, Cassie."

Cassiopeia nodded.  "Oh, there was a definite shutoff of higher brain functions that were only restored by a honking horn."

“Oh no, Junie, are you okay?”  Faye looked up at June with big, wide eyes.

“Uh.  Yeah.  They’re exaggerating, it wasn’t even a car, it just was a bike.”

"Oh, that’s a relief!  Have I ever shut off your brain, Junie?  Am I cute enough?"  Faye Burrey asked.  She looked so hopeful that June almost could not look directly at her.

"I...I mean I, um..."  June began.  Auggie smiled, cackled, and clamped a hand on Faye's shoulder.

"Looks like ya just did, Faye-faye."

"Really?!”

"Doctor Schumacher, your verdict?"  Auggie asked Cassie.  Cassie coughed and adjusted her glasses before putting on a scientific tone and examining the blushing June.

"Subject appears to have lost her ability to communicate simple thoughts and concepts and is unresponsive except to attempt poorly articulated defense of her behavior.  Her brain is indeed ‘shut off’."

June glared at Cassie.  "Why do you always take Auggie's side?"

"Because it is more amusing.  I have seen you blush and be flustered less than I have seen her do so."

“Cass, there’s no way I’ve ever been as flustered as Junie.  She’s like a fluster machine.”

"I have several dozen sleepover stories that beg to differ."  A very slight smirk crept onto Cassie’s lips. 

Auggie narrowed her eyes.  “Careful there.  Don’t do anything you’ll regret.  Octy’s not here to help, this time.”

June was so engrossed that she did not notice that Faye was hanging on her arm until she looked down and saw those big, brown eyes staring up at her.

"Hi."

"Um...hey."  June replied, blushing despite herself.  Then she blinked, pulled away, and said, "Oh I just remembered, I need to do something at a place before the thing starts okay bye."  Before the three other girls could react, June bolted off, into the school.

Faye called out for her to wait but did not give chase.  She sighed and sat on a nearby bench.  "Am I coming on too strong?  I just want her to like me.  She’s so pretty and nice and cool."

Auggie and Cassie sat on either side of her.  "Come on, Faye-Faye.  You gotta give the girl time.  She's still got that unhealthy fixation goin' on.  She's comin' around to you, though.  I can tell."

"I'm as good as Senine aren't I?"  Faye asked, her trademarked puppy-dog eyes making a reappearance.  Her voice was hurt and despondent.

"Trust me, you're a lot better than Senine.  I just hope Junie sees that before her heart gets broken."

 

__ _ What the hell, June.   What the hell.   _   June rested her head against her locker.   _ I did  _ _ not _ _ think Faye was cute.  Wait, so what if she is cute?  I don't have to go out with every cute girl in the world.  Well, I mean, I could, but that’d be impractical and UGH off topic.  Okay, June, let’s think about this.  She's into me.  She’s cute.  In a lot of ways, really.  But, God, she's just not my type.  I mean, she's a cheerleader.  And she wouldn't know goth if a gallon of black dye spilled on her during a Bauhaus concert.  I mean, Senine, she has style, I mean, so what if she... _

June doubled over.  She felt as though something was trying to break its way out of her head, coupled with the sensation of a thousand eyes on her at once.  She cried out, her fingers trying to find a grip on the lockers to keep from falling over.

The feeling faded, and June realized, as the echoes of pain began to fade, that she was surrounded by Auggie, Cassie, and Faye.  June could hear murmurs from the hallway beyond, ranging from derision to concern, with a healthy dose of confusion all around.

"Junie!  You okay?"  Auggie had her hand on June’s shoulder.

"What's wrong June?  Are you hurt?"  Cassie asked, her badge in hand as she started to reach out for her.

She shook her head.  "No, I'm fine I just had a bit of a headache.  And, well, I kinda felt like I was being watched.  It's gone now, though."  She was suddenly aware that Faye was, once again, latched on her arm.

"I was worried."  Faye was filled to the brim with concern, and there were a ghost of concerned tears visible on her cheeks and in her eyes.  "You didn't hear when I called, so I went to get your friends, but then you were better."

"No, really, I'm fine.  Just a little headache."  June repeated, though no one, not even June herself, was entirely convinced.

"Well...if you’re sure,  I remembered the reason I wanted to talk to you!  There's a pep rally after school today and I get to do a new routine and I want you to come."  Faye’s concern faded to excitement.  “You guys can support the team!  I know your brother’s gonna be there, too, June!”

"Well, I don't know..I mean, maybe..."  June began before Auggie elbowed her in the side and interjected.

"What she means is we'd love to come out and support the school and you, right Junie?"  She did not wait for June to respond.  "Right.  We'll be there."

"Yay!"  She exclaimed, doing a little hop in her blue and gold uniform.  "I gotta head to class, see you there!"  Faye then hugged June tightly and skipped off before June’s brain could react

"Why did you do that to me?"  June asked as she watched Faye leave.

"Us, Junie, did it to us.  Cass, you're coming too, right?"

Cassie blinked a bit, and sighed, and then nodded.  "I would rather go than face those eyes tomorrow asking my why I did not attend."

June looked Auggie in the eye.  "Why Auggie?  None of us care about the sports team.  And I just don't feel the same about her that she does me."

"Because she's our friend, Junie.  And we should support her."  Auggie said.

June groaned.  "You're right.  I just feel on edge.  Like, I'm still being watched or something."  The bell rang, and June was suddenly aware that they were alone in the hall. "..and now we're late."

The three of them hurried to class, with Auggie and Cassie trailing behind.

"This actually is a ploy to get them together, isn't it?"  Cassie whispered to Auggie, who smirked.

"Oh yeah.  Big time."

 

***

 

Back in the sky fortress of Baron Stellos, the Puppetrix stood before the Baron once more.

"Ah, my lady, what have you to report?"  The Baron asked.

"I did not need your men to draw her out, as I stated.  A simple scry sufficed."  Something in her whispered.  "The Black Sun is wielded by a girl known as June Alexandra Hespia.  Her greatest fear is an inability to help those who need it when the time comes.  Her best friends are Augusta Levey and Cassiopeia Schumacher, the pair of which possess power stars as well.  She is also a creature ruled by desire, as are many her age.  She has an infatuation with a girl named ‘Senine’.  A girl named Faye Burrey appears to be infatuated with June as well.  I believe the feelings are tumultuous, but returned.  She has one family member, a brother, named Julius.  I also believe she feels herself responsible for her parents' death."

"Splendid information.  I believe this ‘Senine’ is also a Stellar Ranger.  Anything more?"

The Puppetrix paused a moment.  "Yes.  I believe she detected my scry."

Stellos furrowed his brow.  "How is that possible?  Finneous, does the Black Sun possess such power?"

"Unknown."  The robot replied.  "No such power is on record for the bearer of Nemesis.  However, not much is known about the full potential of the Nightborn Star.  She was also able to sense Commander Brush.  More observation is required."

"Hm.  No matter.  Thank you, Puppetrix.  I may have need of your puppets, and...other skills, soon."  

The woman bowed and faded from view.

"Finneous.  Summon the Jadiah Guard.  We will begin our assault on the bearer of Nemesis in one fell swoop, striking at all points.  Her sanity shall begin to erode almost as quickly as the likelihood of my victory will increase.”

 

***

 

Amber Septus, cheerleader and bully, put her hands on her hips where she stood, behind Lynneth Ursula Card, the most popular girl in school and also, the cheer captain, in the lunch room.  Amber was of about average height, with golden brown eyes and orange-red hair, and she was also dressed in a Solar City Junior High cheerleading outfit.

"...and, like, I don't see why we should have her, like, around her, like, gaying everything up." Amber said.  “Like, Val and Beth both agree?  She needs to, like, go.  Now.”

Lynneth was tall, with black hair and bright blue eyes, which she rolled as she heard Amber talk.  "For one, if the cheerleading team was to refuse Faye because of her preference, it would be disbanded, or I would be yelled at until I let her in--which, for reference, I wouldn’t do.  For another, you and your quote-unquote friends are the only ones with the problem, Amber."  Lynneth was giving Amber her most disapproving look.  "For a third, she's the most energetic, happiest, liveliest girl on the team.  She's more flexible, faster, and stronger than any of us--even you, so, really, you and your friends are way more expendable than she is.  So, lastly, if I kicked her off the team, I wouldn't have anyone to make captain when I graduate into highschool next year.”

It took Amber a moment to process that information before her eyes went wide and her mouth gaped in outrage.  "Wha...you, like, like, you can't!  She's, like,  a, like, a..."  

"Yes, she's  _ like _ a lesbian.”  As she said that, Lynneth’s friends snickered.  “She's also the best cheerleader on this team.  So drop it, Amber, before I,  _ like _ , drop you from the team.  I don't want to hear it any more."  Lynneth's friends, some of whom were also on the team, giggled quietly.  Lynneth gave her one last glare before she turned back to her lunch, her thick, black hair bouncing across her back with the quick motion.

Amber gaped before determination hit her golden brown eyes.  She stomped away from the table and glared across the lunchroom at the table housing Faye, Cassie, Auggie, and that new girl, the albino one Faye seemed to be smitten with.

_ Alright Faye, if the others don't see it my way, looks like I'll just have to get you off the team myself. _

 

***

 

"Ah,"  Stellos began, smiling with false benevolence.  "The Jadiah Guard, Lieutenant Kniphos, Corporal Forkos, and Captain Spunos.  My best covert unit.  How good of you to come."

The members of the Jadiah Guard were tall, lean triplets, with blue-green skin and no hair on their long, somewhat newt-like heads.  They wore the Hollow Heart uniform.

"Anytime, milord, we live to serve you."  Forkos stated, standing, like his brothers, at attention.

"Good, good.  I have a special mission for the three of you.  A coordinated strike, as it were."  The Baron stood.  "There are three people close to the bearer of Nemesis's heart.  And, in one attack, we will take them away from her.  And she will be powerless to stop us."


	4. Episode Four:  Machinations in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baron Stellos enacts his three-pronged attack on the people most important to June.
> 
> This chapter has been edited and re-worked!

Jordy sighed from his spot laying across Senine’s bed. His hostess was busy changing in and out of various outfits, and was currently wearing a black work shirt, a short skirt, and a different set of overly complicated boots.  She was holding up a t-shirt and a tank top, all while casting glances down at her current outfit and giving them long, speculative looks.

"I think he's cheating on me."  Jordy said, his voice just as despondent and listless he looked..

"If he is, I don't know anything about it.  Does this skirt make my ass look big?"  Senine asked.  Jordy glanced up.

"Hon, pants designed to make your ass look big could not make your ass look big.  I just...sometimes he smells like roses or something.  Like nice perfume.  And when I ask him about it he just says I'm being paranoid.  But he's been weird around me for weeks.  Oh, that top looks cute."

"I know, I'm wearing it."  Senine straightened out her outfit.  "You think he's cheating with a girl then?"

"I'm not sure what I think but, yeah, I think so."  Jordy sat up.  "Yeah, I know I'm not the most fun to be around lately, but he keeps canceling on me.  And I think when he's doing that, he's with her."

"He doesn't seem like the type of guy that fools around on someone he's seeing.  I mean, he's nothing like me.  Black or purple?"  She held up a couple lipstick tubes.

"What're you wearing?  That?"  She nodded.  "Definitely purple.  And stop it.  I hate it when you rag on yourself like that."

Senine made a dismissive motion.  "Yeah, yeah.  You know what I'm getting at, though.  He's sweet, charismatic, and honest.  Really.  I don't think he'd cheat on you."

"Yeah."  Jordy said, his confidence nowhere near what even that word would indicate.

"Look."  She turned with a smirk on her face. "We're going to go clubbing and have a good time tonight.  So forget about your problems.  Everything will be fine."  She paused to glance at her skull-faced clock.  "What time did you need to be home tonight?"

"Ten at the latest.  If you show up and apologize I might be able to get away with midnight."  Jordy replied.

"God I love your parents."  Senine snickered.  "'Our son's out late with a girl!  He can't possibly be gay like he keeps telling us.'  What are you wearing?"

"Oh, just this.  I don't feel like dressing up."  All positive emotion banished from his voice.

Senine gave him a once-over.  "Oh no, I am dressing you in drag with my stuff if I have to.  Actually, that might look kinda hot."

"You are not dressing me up."

"Why should now be different from when we were nine, Jordy darling?  Now stand up, I got a skirt that will look great on you."

 

****

 

Faye let her hair down and tousled it a bit, then sighed and put it back up, and then murmured "no" and put it down again.  "Bernadette."  She whined.  Other cheerleaders buzzed around the locker room around her as the time for the pep rally quickly approached.  "Am I sexy?"

"Yes."  Bernadette tied her curly hair back.  "Sexy enough for June?  Gotta ask her, girl."

Faye pouted.  "She's so pretty and elegant. I just wanna be with her but I think she's scared of me or something." She sighed and slumped.

"Hon, trust me.  You're a knockout.  And worse comes to worst, just knock her out and drag her back to your place."  Bernadette winked at her and then made sure her hair was straight.

Faye’s bright smile returned.  "Yeah.  I should be happy!  We're gonna go cheer our hearts out!"  

"Atta girl."  Bernadette and the others finished getting dressed and started to head out.  Faye gave herself one last look in the mirror and turned to leave, and there, standing right there, was Amber Septus, hands on her hips and a scowl on her lips.  The uncomfortable feeling she usually got around Amber slowly started to rise in her gut.

"H-hi Amber.  Ready for the pep rally?"

"Oh, very.  I just, like, came to, like, congratulate you on spoiling my dreams and, like, crushing my hopes.  How does that, like, make you feel?"  The final word was spat with much more venom than any word previously.

Faye gave her a very confused look.  "I don't..."

"Lynneth is, like, making you the next cheerleading captain when she, like, leaves at the end of this year."  Amber growled.  "And not me even though I've, like, worked my ass off to get that position."

"She's really making me captain?  Oh wow...I mean, I'm sorry you're not getting it.  Maybe we could be co-captains." Faye’s offer was accompanied with a gentle smile.

"Co-cap....urgh!  Like, why is it so, like, hard to, like, intimidate you?  God." Amber threw her hands up in frustration.  "I don't want to be captain, like, with you, I want to be captain!  You're going to, like,  turn down the role or, like,  give it to me or something or I'll....I'll...."

Faye put a hand on Amber's arm, once it dropped to her side again.  "It's okay.  I don't wanna be captain all that much. You can be captain."

"Get your hands off me you fucking dyke."  Amber yelled, smacking Faye's hand away and stepping back.  "God,  don't you, like, ever fucking drop the 'nice girl' act?  I mean, Jesus, can't you even, like,  react when I yell at you?  I'm supposed to be, like, intimidating and scaring you here!  Like, like..."

Faye's eyes began to well up with tears. "I'm s-sorry Amber, I didn't mean..."

"Are you, like....like,are you, like, crying?  Oh come on, like, don't cry.  Please don't cry."  Amber pleaded. "I just, like, thought..."  Faye began to sob.  Amber reached out to give her a small hug and Faye wrapped her arms around her and buried her face in her chest.  "Like, I'm sorry?  I was, like..like,  just a little mad and, like, please don't cry.  Like, yell at me or scream or something but like like like please don't cry."

"I just want everyone to be happy."  Faye mumbled as she sobbed.  "I'm sorry I make you so mad."

"No...it's alright just, God, don't cry.  I can't stand when people cry."  Amber patted the smaller girl awkwardly.  "We can be co-captains or something, really, I don't mind."

"Y-you mean it?"  Faye asked with a hopeful voice.  "Because I never really got to know you and this would be a great way for us to get to know each other and you're a real great cheerleader."

Amber blinked, as this was the last thing she expected to come from this moment, but she pulled away from the smaller girl. "Yeah.  Like, sure.  That sounds, like, uh,  good."

"Great!"  Faye said with a big smile. "Could you tell coach I need a few more minutes?  I think I smeared my makeup crying so hard."

"Right.  I'll get right on that."  Amber said, and then made a speedy retreat.

Faye smiled for a second longer before her composure faded and she gave a gasp in pain. She looked down at her hands, her eyes widening as blonde and black striped fur began to push itself from her skin, and her fingers began to broaden, her nails retracting into her hands hand re-emerging as large, feline claws.

"No.  No, not again.  Please not again I've been good, I've been so good."  She muttered, concentrating so hard she did not notice that she was no longer alone in the locker room.

"You must be Faye Burrey."  The newt-like man said, producing a weapon that looked like some sort of wicked brain-scooping polearm.  "I am Captain Spunos of the Hollow Heart Army.  Now, this will only take a second.  Stand still, and it will be painless."

"Please...please leave."  Faye was sobbing.  Her muscles were straining and bulging as her body started to twist.  "Please."

"Oh, it will take more than begging, I'm afraid, my dear."  Spunos tapped his Hollow Heart insignia.  However, instead of her star heart ripping itself from her body, Spunos was launched across the room and smashed into a pair of lockers as a bright yellow glow surrounded Faye.

"I...I wasn't trying...to save myself."  She said in a feral growl as fur sprouted all over her body and her clothing split.  She fell to all fours as her body contorted and rearranged to one very similar to a great cat's.  Spunos could only stare in horror as her face lengthened into a wolf ‘s muzzle, and a pair of eagle wings sprouted from her shoulderblades and she grew a long, whiplike lizard tail.

"I was trying to save you."

 

****

 

"Okay guys, pack it in, you don't want to be late for the pep rally."  Julius said to the Jr. High football team, blowing on a whistle and ushering them into the boys’ locker room as the sky began to show the purple of early twilight all around them.

"Hey Jules!"  June said as she and her two friends ran up to him.  "We're sticking around for the pep rally."

"I'm not gonna be here to give you a ride home." 

"That's fine.  The three of us can go home together.  And if anyone tries to start something we'll just use our superpowers."  June replied.  Julius really did not have a way to respond to that, so he shrugged and smiled.

"Alright, you kids be careful and if you're out too late I'm grounding you." 

"No you're not." 

"Yeah, but I'm obligated as your legal guardian to say that.  Take care of her for me, girls."  Julius waved to the girls, as he walked to his car.

"We will!"  Augusta said.

Julius smiled and got into his battered but well-loved car.  If he hurried, he could grab some flowers and a quick shower before his date with Leah.

He was thinking about this date as he drove past Solar City Woods on his way to his flower shop of choice, and so he did not notice when a figure in red and gold, with a massive sword, stepped out in front of his car.

 

****

 

"I've got to hand it to this town.  Nowhere else has an all ages goth-slash-raver club that opens at sunset."  Senine remarked as she and Jordy, who was in deed in a skirt, walked down the sidewalk towards Club Heart Beats.  "A place where kids can go and cut loose and be non-conformist and still be back at school-night reasonable hours so parents don't throw a hissy fit."

"You're lucky you don't have to worry about your parents lecturing you."  Jordy replied.  Then he winced a bit.  "Oh, I mean, sorry Senine."

"Right?  Hashtag fuck my parents.”

Then she paused, casually slipped a Stellar Ranger badge on her chest, and then a black-handled, purple-headed warhammer appeared in her hands as she pivoted and blocked a jab from a wickedly tined pitchfork that would have otherwise impaled her.  Its source was a newt-like creature in a red and gold uniform, an empty gold heart insignia on its chest.

"Jordy, run to the club and do it now."  Senine ordered.  A blank look hit Jordy's face just a second before he bolted in abject terror.

"Impressive block, Stellar Ranger."  The monster said with a sneer.  "But I doubt a junior ranger like you can keep it up for long."

"Junior Ranger?  Please.  I passed all the exams months ago."  Senine shoved the Pulsar Sledge forward, knocking the newt off balance, pivoted, and then swung her sledge around, over her shoulders, and smacked it dead center into the Hollow Heart's chest, snapping the pole of his trident in half and throwing him up in the air and then down several yards back.

The newt coughed up some blood and got to his feet, now holding the pointy part of the trident forward and holding the weighted back like some sort of mace.  "I am Corporal Forkos of the Jadiah Guard.  You caught me off guard at first, young one, but it shan't happen again."

Senine smirked. "Oh, we'll see about that.  I'm Stellar Ranger Void, Fork Boy, not some pathetic little first-year. And believe me when I said I'm just getting warmed up."

 

****

 

Faye woke up in her cheerleading uniform on the floor of the locker room with a foul taste in her mouth. There was no sign of the newt-man, save for the shattered remains of the scoop weapon and a twisted, warped, and broken heart insignia rapidly crumbling into dust on the ground.  Faye quickly gathered up these things and dropped them in the garbage before she realized what the foul taste in her mouth had to be.  Her stomach churned and she ran to a toilet, emptying the contents of her stomach into it and sobbing.

"Faye?  Faye, you okay?"  Came a voice at the door of the locker room.  The sweetest, kindest, most gentle and determined voice Faye knew.  June's.

"I just got a little sick."  She yelled back.  "I'm sorry for making everyone wait, I'll be there in a second."

Instead of leave, June came into the room and stood near the stall.  "Do you need anything?  Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine.  Thank you."

There was a pause.  "Are you sure?  I got this really bad feeling and then I noticed you weren't around.  And then I heard that Amber was talking alone with you in here."

"No, r-really.  Thank you."

There was another pause, and Faye got the impression that June was closer now.  "Um...I mean, I know I'm new and everything but if you ever need to talk...or anything....um..."  There was an awkward pause on both ends, punctuated by Faye getting sick yet again.  The fact that she mostly seemed to be vomiting up blood made even more urpy.

"Listen, Faye, I know this isn't the best time for this, but..."  Faye heard June slump against the stall door.  "But..I just want you to know that, well..."

The locker room door opened again, and someone else hurried into the room.  Lynneth's voice followed.  "Is Faye alright?  She's late and I heard she was talking to Amber."

"She just got a little sick.  She'll be fine.  You might want to start without her."  June said, a little protectively, which made Faye's heart leap.

"You okay sweetie?"  Lynneth asked.

"I'm fine but I don't think I can go perform right now if that's alright.  I'm sorry.  I just feel urpy all of a sudden."  Faye replied, desperately wanting everyone to go away.  She did not want to have another episode when June was here.

"You sure you're alright?  I can have a talk with Amber."

"No, she was really nice.  Really."  Faye could almost hear the two girls exchange disbelieving stares.  "No, really.  I think she likes to pretend to be mean because it's expected of her but she's really not a bad person."

"Alright, I'll get started.  Take it easy, sweetie.  You going to stay here to make sure she's alright?"  Faye heard her ask June.

She assumed June nodded, because she heard Lynneth leave the locker room after that.

There was another awkward pause.  Faye flushed a few times to try to get the red out of the toilet bowl.  Luckily, given which locker room it was, some blood would not be too out of the question.  She really hoped the chunks of newt entrails and skin did not clog the sewer line or resurface, however. 

"So...Faye.  I just wanted to say..."  June said after what seemed like an eternity, but whatever she was going to follow up with was drowned out by her cell phone going off.

"Hello?  Yes, this is June Hespia.  Yes, my brother.  Did something...Oh no, no no no.  Where?  Which...I'll be there...yes...I'll...bye."  Faye then heard the cell phone clatter to the ground, and June fall to her knees in the next moment.

Barely pausing to wipe off her mouth, Faye threw open the bathroom door and saw June look up at her, a helpless, broken, shock-filled expression on her face.

"There's been an accident."  June said in a hollow voice.  "Julius is in a coma."

 

****

 

June sat in the waiting room, rocking slightly in her chair.  Faye was next to her, a hand on hers, looking at her with heavy concern in her face.

Augusta and Cassie burst into the waiting room not a moment later.

"We came as soon as we got the call."  Cassie said. 

Auggie nodded.  "Yeah Junie we were worried about you when you didn't come back after a while.  Is he alright?  Was he hurt or anything?"

"The doctors won't say."  Faye said, not breaking her gaze from June, who only barely seemed aware of the world around her.  "They're working on him now."

As if on cue, a doctor stepped into the waiting room.  June snapped to her feet and rushed to him.

"Is he okay?  Will he be okay?  Please tell me he'll be okay." 

"Your brother is a very lucky man.  His injuries were minimal--a broken arm, a few cracked ribs.  Considering the shape his car was in he's lucky to be alive."  He replied.

"What shape was his car in, doctor?"  Cassie asked.

The doctor polished his glasses.  "He must have hit a pole or something, because the EMTs said it was almost like it was cut in half.  I’m sorry, I don’t know more.”

"Is he awake?  Is he asking for me?  Can I see him?"  June became increasingly frantic as she spoke.

The doctor gave June a sympathetic look.  "I'm sorry, Miss Hespia.  But there is some bad news as well."

If possible, June looked even more pale than normal.

"We're not sure why, because there was next to no head trauma, but he is completely unresponsive.  Maybe it's psychological.  Maybe it will clear up in a few days, or even a few hours.  But right now..."  He sighed.  "I've never seen anything like it without a severe corresponding head injury.  He's completely flat on the brain  electrical activity."

June stepped away, something horrible clicking in her mind.  "I have to go. I need some rest."

"Yes, of course.  We will call you the minute something changes."  The doctor replied.

June turned to Faye.  "Faye, could you stay here a bit longer?  Just until I get home?"

Faye nodded.  "Whatever you need, Junie."

June gave a significant look to Cassie and Auggie, who followed her out.

"Stellos."  June muttered.  "He's behind this.  And he will pay for this."

"Maybe you should sit this one out, Junie."  Auggie put a hand on her shoulder.  "Cassie and I can find the Hollow Heart who did this and mess him up for you!"

"No.  I have to do it.  I will make it pay and rip my brother's heart back even if I have to take part of its with it."  June growled.  The lights immediately around June flickered.  “I’m going to save him.  No matter what.”

 

*****

 

Forkos stepped back, his arm hanging broken and limp, his other tightly holding on to the pointed end of his trident.  He was battered and bruised.

Senine, on the other hand, was barely winded.

"Curse you girl.  You have forced my hand."  The newt-man growled.  "Now you will feel my full power!"  A bright yellow-white light surged into being in front of Forkos, and his whole body began to glow.  Then, suddenly, his body bulged tremendously, his muscles growing and his uniform heavily straining.  The trident in his hand was made whole once more as his broken arm healed itself.

And, up in Baron Stellos's castle, a sickly yellow light in his gallery began to blaze hotter than normal.

"I may burn out my star heart, but it will be worth it to kill an impudent whelp like you."  He growled as the glow began to surround his weapon.  Senine stepped forward and slammed her warhammer into his chest--to absolutely no effect.  In response, Forkos lashed out his formerly broken arm and grabbed Senine by the neck, lifting her into the air and starting to slowly crush the air from her.

After clawing at her neck for a moment, Stellar Ranger Void banished her sledge and lifted her hands and managed to gasp out, "Tidal...Surge."  Before she clapped her hands together.  A wave of distorted gravity shot through Forkos and disrupted his equilibrium, which made him stumble back and lose his grip on her neck.  She toppled to her knees, coughing a moment before dodging out of a counter-attack from Forkos.

She re-summoned the Pulsar Sledge and sidestepped another attack while a black sphere of condensed gravity formed in her left hand.  "Crusher Ball!"  She shouted as she tossed it at Forkos.  Rather than exploded, it seemed to draw all its mass inward and implode, sending a powerful, more focused ripple of distortion through the newt-man's body.  This actually did seem to hurt him, and he doubled over, clutching his stomach in what looked like extreme agony.

"Hammer of the Dying Star,"  She began, holding the sledge in front of her and concentrating.  Forkos started to rise and lifted his glowing trident to the ready.  "Grant me the power to destroy my foes!"  She brought her hammer back, and its purple head darkened and began to glow black.  the newt's trident slashed forward.  "Dead Star Smash!"  Senine cried out, and the Sledge met the trident and shattered it, going on to smash straight into the chest of Forkos once again.  This time, the blow sent a ripple of destruction through him, shattering bones, disrupting organs, and destroying his whole body.  The heart symbol on his uniform twisted and began to rust as the yellow glow consumed him and his own star heart burned him to ashes before it, in the Baron's hall, faded to nothing.

Senine sighed and dismissed her sledge.  She took out a compact and flipped it open, using the mirror to examine her neck.  "Great.  Just what I needed.  Bruises to explain at school tomorrow."  Then she put the compact and her badge in her bag and proceeded towards the club once again.

 

****

 

June stopped at the exact spot the the accident had happened.  She was working on instinct alone at the moment.  Instinct and that bad feeling she had in the back of her head, the one that felt like something was wrong with the world.

She did not even tell her friends why she suddenly veered off into the wooded park, which caused Auggie and Cassie to exchange worried looks as they followed after her.

After walking a while, she suddenly turned, her hand glowing with bright white light, which illuminated the somewhat burly, brown-eyed newt man with a massive, single-edged sword, his heart outline filled with a red glow.

"It certainly took you long enough."  He sneered.  "I am Lieutenant Kniphos of the Jadiah Guard.  I see you have bested my brothers, but I am the strongest of my family.  And, fortified by this stolen heart, I am invincible."

"Brothers?  What the heck are you talkin' about?"  Auggie asked.  "You're the first salamander dude we've seen all night."

That caused him to be taken aback.  "...your allies must be strong indeed. But  no matter.  You three will fall before my blade."

"Give it back."  June said in a quiet voice.  Her daggers were in her hands.  "Now."

"I think not, child.  Though not a power star, it is quite vibrant in and of its own right.  Perfect for my master's halls.  Perhaps the south hallway." He said, looking down at the heart insignia.  "It could use a strong red light."

"You are taking people's lives...for decoration?"  Cassie said, aghast.

"Why of course.  The Baron has the best collection of Star Hearts in the Million Baronies.  We have collected many cities, sometimes even entire planets, worth of Hearts."  Kniphos said with a prideful expression and tone.  "It is truly the most marvelous thing any creature has ever seen.  They shine so beautifully."

"Oh God, that's why your hearts are taken out...for more pieces for his walls."  Cassie was pale with horror and dread realization.  "You have ruined billions of lives just to keep your master on the cutting edge of fashion."

"Dude, that's fucked up."  Auggie added.

"Give it back now."  June growled.  

"No, I think not."  Kniphos smirked.  "You can't stop me.  And I do love a poetic end.  For you to die by the power of your own brother's star heart..."  He sighed.  "Beautiful irony, don't you think?"

"I won't let you take him away from me."  She said in a cold voice.  "I'm not going to fail to protect anyone again.  Give it back."

"But you have already failed. I could siphon your brother's energy or teleport back to my master's lair at any moment.  You can't stop me.  You're just a child playing at a game you do not understand."  Kniphos sneered.  "Just like you could not save your parents."

Those words hit June like a ton of bricks.  "I couldn't have..."

"Oh, you tell yourself that now.  But I can tell you wonder if you could have.  If there was not something all that power of yours could fix.  Could have prevented, mayhap."

"It was a car accident. I wasn't there.  I couldn't have..."  June sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anyone else.

"But you wrack your brain, don't you."  Kniphos continued.  "Trying to think of some way you could have saved them.  But you failed.  You can't think of a way and that hurts you more.  The helplessness.  All that power and no way to save what's important to you."

"I've had about enough of this creep."  Auggie said, her Thunder Batons in hand. "Let's take him down and get your brother back to normal."

The Dyna Scythe was also in Cassie's hands.  "Agreed.  Scum like this deserves a slow death, but in this case I think we will make haste in your brother's interests."

June said nothing.  She merely got to her feet, her daggers at her sides.  For a moment, she looked broken and defeated, but then she locked eyes with Kniphos and for the first time in the night.  When he saw the look of rage and pain in her eyes, he hesitated for just a moment, but only for a moment, because that was all the time he had left.

 

Working late at night in the Tower, Mr. Vember felt the explosion a second before it actually happened.  He put down his pen and quickly moved to a window, and he saw the dome of black that was deeper than the night, deeper dark than the city could ever get, that consumed one of the plentiful parks.

"No, not this soon.  Not when she's so young."  He said to himself.  "I need more time.  She needs more time."

Then, the dome of black exploded in a blinding flash of light that lit the entire city up for one brief, brilliant moment.

 

Hal rushed to a window the moment before the blast, not even registering the fact that he was topless and covered in lipstick and scratches.

"Lanessa...Lanessa my love, do you feel that?"  He asked without turning around.  "It feels almost like...."

A long, black fingernail ran down his back as a figure came up behind him, her features hidden in the dark.  "Yes, milord.  I can feel it.  Such intoxicating power.  In such unstable hands."

Hal turned away when the light flash erupted from the shadow.  "Arrange a meeting with Stellos.  If what I seek is on this planet then I have to keep that greedy bastard from taking it before I can use for my cure."

"Of course, milord.  I will have Grim arrange something as soon as possible.  Now come back to bed, my Prince."  The voice purred.  "I am not through with you yet."

 

Augusta did not wait around to see what June was going to do, nor was she going to try to stop her from leveling the creep.  So she did the most sensible thing she could think of and grabbed Cassie and ran faster than a lightning bolt.

When they reached the edge of the dome, Cassie said, "She needs our help, we have to go back to..."

Then she was interrupted by the explosion.  Thinking quickly, she planted her scythe into the ground, and a stout, powerful tree sprouted in front of the two Stellar Rangers, taking the brunt of the massive blast.

 

When the smoke cleared, June was lying in the middle of intense devastation. The trees around her were either knocked from their roots or in the process of being uprooted--those few that were not destroyed outright.  The foliage and undergrowth was completely cleared, and scorch marks covered nearly everything, save her.

She shook off a dazed feeling and slowly got to her feet.  There was no sign of Kniphos.

 

_ "I...why can't I teleport?"  The newt yelled in confusion, taking a step back before rushing June with his massive sword raised.  "This trickery will not save you, witch!" _

__ _ The sword came down, and shattered on an invisible barrier.  There was a small flash of light, and the Hollow Heart Officer was knocked back and through several trees.  Before he stopped, June was there, next to him, waiting for him. _

__ _ "What are you?  Where is this power coming from?"  The creature yelled in fear. _

 

The memories were blurry and indistinct, like she was watching them through a filter.  The feel of metal in her hand suddenly grounded her, and June opened her hand.  In it was a twisted and warped heart symbol, now rapidly rusting and falling to pieces.  The glow had left it, which gave her the hope that, somehow, Julius was alright.

"Junie!  Junie, you okay, girl?"  Auggie's voice cut her out of her reverie.  She turned and saw her friends walking carefully through the wreckage towards her.

"Damn girl, when you cut loose you cut loose for real."  She said appreciatively.  Cassie looked a bit less certain--she visibly winced at every uprooted or shattered tree.

"Yeah, I guess."  She looked around. "I did all this?"

"You don't remember?"  Asked Cassie, turning her concerned look to her friend and away from the shattered forest.

"No, I mean, kinda...but the last thing I remember is him saying something about my parents...it gets kinda fuzzy after that."  She rubbed her temples a bit.  "I don't know what I did, how I did it, or even if it was me who did it."

Cassie studied her for a second, her hands glowing briefly green.  "You seem fine, despite perhaps a headache and fatigue, your energy has not dipped at all."

"Ow, do I ever have a headache.  Let's...let's go see if Julius is okay.  And tell Faye she can go home.  Her parents are probably pretty worried about her."  June said, and the three friends made their way out of the blasted park and off to tie up the loose ends of the night.

 

****

 

“The worst case, I fear, has become increasingly likely.”  Mr. Vember said into his phone, in his office.  “The Penumbra has awoken.  The bearer of Nemesis has already had contact with it.  I have heard she is fine, and no one that she did not intend to hurt was hurt, however...

“I understand, but I believe telling her may be the best case.  No, I do not believe she would be tempted to use it.  June’s an excellent young lady, and--

“If I do not tell her, it may be Lori all over again.  Please.  Let me help her as I could not help my wife.  She was not ready for the Penumbra, but June--

“...Yes.  I understand.  The rules are there for a reason.  Goodbye.”

Novias hung up the phone and looked back out the window, back towards the shattered park.

 

****

 

June was very, very relieved when she returned to the hospital and found out that not only was Julius awake, but asking for her as well.

"Hey there.  How was the pep rally?"  He said with a weak smile.

"Not important, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll bounce back in no time."  He replied in a tired voice.  "Just might need some rest."

June looked at her older brother carefully.  "You don't feel drained or anything?"

"I don't exactly feel like running a few laps around the field.  But, thanks to you, my soul's intact."  He said with a smile.  "Having a super heroine for a sister isn't as bad as I thought it'd be."

June did not smile at that.  "I should have been faster."

"If I know you, you were rushing to save me the moment you figured out what was wrong."  Julius closed his eyes.  "Relax, June.  You did good.  Don't punish yourself for not being 'fast enough'.  I'm alive, no one got hurt.  It's all going to be okay.  Now, I think I need to sleep a bit more.  Having a salamander pull your soul...out...tires...you..."

He was asleep before he could quite finish the word 'you'.

 

****

 

"Mama, Daddy, I'm home."  Faye called as she entered her home.  Her mother, a somewhat round woman, ran up to her.

"Where were you?  You weren't at the rally!  We were so worried about you!  That you might have had another..."  Her mother trailed off as she saw the guilty look on Faye's face.  "Oh angel, you didn't."

"I tried not to Mama, really, but it just happened and I really tried I did but I couldn't stop it."  She was starting to cry.

Her mother sighed.  "You know what this means, Faye."

The blonde girl's eyes went wide.  "Oh please, Mama, please don't lock me up there, please it was just once, I'll be good I swear."

"I'm sorry, angel, but you brought this on yourself.  Your father will insist on it too, so just go up and take the time-out sweetie."  She said in a tone that was both sweet and condescending.

"Y-yes Mama, sorry Mama."  She said, whimpering as she walked upstairs and pulled down the attic ladder.  Once she was up, her mother shut it and locked it behind her.

Alone in the barren space, Faye brought her knees to her chest and sobbed.  Only one thing, in her isolation, gave her comfort.

The thought of June.  Perfect June.  To get her through the long, lonely night.

 

*****

 

"Finneous, explain what that was."  Stellos asked as calmly as he could.

"Unknown."  The robot replied.  "Source of energy matches nothing in my data banks."

"Worthless!"  He exclaimed, raising his scepter to hit the robot before the Puppetrix's voice stopped him.

"Before you destroy him, please replay the last moments of Spunos." Something in her said.  Stellos obliged her, and ordered Finneous to replay the data.

"Fascinating.  Faye appears to have some form of feral star."  The blank face turned to the Baron.  "We can use this."

Stellos thought for a moment before catching on, putting away his scepter and shoving Finneous into a nearby wall.  "Yes....yes!  It would be so painful for young June if she had to put her little friend down, after all."

 

*****

 

__ _ “What are you, where is this power coming from?"  Kniphos yelled as he tried in vain to get away from her. _

__ _ “"I am the heart of Nemesis, the shadow that is also light.  The omega, the eternal ending, the final and first."  Stellar Ranger Dark Star said in a voice that was not quite her own, seconds before the giant blast of oppressive dark and burning light. _

__ _ “"I am the bright shadow.  I am the Penumbra." _


	5. Episode Five:  Wild Child, Part One

"Mama."  Faye called, pounding on the attic's hatch.  "Mama, Daddy, please, I need to get ready for school.  Please let me out I promise I'll be good."

The hatch opened, and her father looked hesitantly up at her from the crack in the door.  "You won't have any more episodes at school.  Ever.  Promise?"

"Yes Daddy please just let me down, I’ll be late and it’s cold up here.”

"Alright, pumpkin, but remember, you gotta earn your trust.  Every time you backslide like this the punishment's gonna get worse.  You don't want another sick day, do you?"  His tone was jovial and good-natured, despite his daughter’s obvious panic and melancholy.

"No Daddy."  She dropped down from the hatch.

"Good.  You've done well, sweetie.  You know how much we worry when you're bad like this, though."

Faye lowered her eyes.  "Yes Daddy, sorry Daddy."

He ruffle her hair and smiled.  "There's my little angel.  Now go get ready for school, sweetheart."  

 

*****

 

June groaned and put her pillow over her head in response to the pounding at her door.

"C'mon Junie, it's time for school, and if I have to suffer so do you!"  Auggie called.

"Go away.  I'm tired and it's too bright out."  June mumbled back.

"If you get out of bed right now I'll tell you what Senine has pierced.".

And, in record time, June was in a black, ankle-length, strap covered skirt, a long sleeved black shirt with a skull and crossbones on it, black gloves, and matching makeup.  Her hair was tied back in record time.  For today, she had with her her black parasol, which was currently closed.

"Belly-button."  Auggie said casually.  "Never said I'd tell you somethin' you didn't know."

"You’re a monster.  Where's Cassie?"

"She's calling in sick.  Said she was gonna spend the day revitalizing the woods and stuff."  Auggie stated for the door.

"She really likes nature, doesn't she?"  June grabbed a couple toaster pastries and started to ravenously devour them as the pair walked towards the school.

"You don't know the half of it."  Auggie replied.  "That girl's been in love with plants and stuff since she was little. Only thing she's ever been more excited about has been Octy."

"Octy?  I think I’ve heard you talk about him before."  June asked as they stepped outside and she squinted in the unusually bright fall sunlight.  She opened the parasol and blocked the bright rays of light very carefully.

"My big brother, Octavian.  Lives with my mom.  They got some weird epic romance thing going on, have been ever since they started dating.  It's really, really freaky.  They start spouting all this Shakespeare-soundin' stuff."  Auggie saw the incredulous look that June was given her and replied.  "I'm so not kidding."

They walked for a bit longer before Faye catapulted herself at June from around a corner, latching onto her and nearly knocking her over.

"Hi."  She said with a smile.

"H-hey."  June said back to her with a nervous, but genuine, smile.

"Hey Faye-Faye, feelin' better?"  Auggie asked.

"Oh yeah, I feel tons better, thank you for asking!"  She answered with an enthusiastic nod.  June could not help but smile at her--the cheerfulness, the exuberance, the love of life she exuded all were starting to heavily grow on her.

Of course, this did not stop her from blushing when she noticed the crafty smirk on Auggie's face.

The three girls made their way to class, and June, despite the rough night she had had, was actually in a rather good mood.

So good, in fact, that when she had the feeling she was being watched, she dismissed it as paranoia.

 

****

 

Cassie sighed, taking in the devastation around her. Every tree in the forested park was, at best, blasted halfway from its roots and, at worst, uprooted outright and heavily scorched.  The foliage had mostly been blasted off and away, though, given it was fall, this was not the problem it would have been in Spring or Summer.  In the center of it all, where she was now, a shallow crater still faintly smoldered.

She reached down and touched the ground, concentrating for just a moment.  Grass sprouted around her hand, and then began to spread from that point.  Saplings started to push themselves from where trees had stood at ground zero, quickly growing from newborn to a full ten years growth in minutes.  In less than a dozen, the crater was re-forested.

Breathing heavily, Cassie slumped against one of her newly made trees, beads of sweat on her brow.  Today, she wore a brown skirt and a white button-up blouse, along with a pair of hiking boots.

"Maybe I should call off Monday from school as well."  The teen said to herself as she got back on unsteady feet.  Though the crater was in good condition, it was only a small part of the mysterious blast that June had set loose in her strange attack last night.

A rustling caught Cassie's attention.  From the newly-grown underbrush, a squirrel  covered in burned fur and favoring a leg hobbled towards her.  Cassie paused and lowered her hand.  The rodent moved towards her cautiously, and then scurried up her sleeve.  As it moved, green sparkles of energy surrounded it.  Its limb straightened and its fur restored itself.  By the time the squirrel had reached her shoulder, it was completely healed.

"You poor thing."  She scratched its head.  The squirrel chittered and scampered up the new tree behind Cassie.  As she had been sitting there, the plant had gone from a decade of growth to three, simply by contact with her.

The growth itself had extended past the crater now--slowly now, barely a foot in the past minute, but still growing, slowly putting life back into the land.

She felt at home out here, amongst the growing life, the revitalized natural world.  She was more at peace here than she ever was amidst concrete and glass.

But it was more than just peace Cassiopeia felt.  She closed her eyes and could also feel the hum and pulse of life in the forest.  The pure essence of all that lived flowed through her heart, and she opened herself to it.

And then she felt something break that calm, something that screamed out obscenities to everything she was, everything she stood for.  The opposite of life itself.

"Hello, Gemma.  I trust you are here on business and have not broken containment?"  She said without opening her eyes.

"Oh, my darling twin, you know me.  Still locked in the belly of that charming little dungeon you put me in.  Not that I'm bitter or anything."  The voice that answered Cassie was her own exactly.  She looked up, eyes open, and saw a figure exactly like her own, in a long black robe, the hood pulled back to reveal a face that exactly matched her own--long, green hair and yellow eyes.  This girl held a violet-hafted scythe with a pale white blade.

"What are you doing here?"  Cassie was guarded, but not afraid.  The field of death that surrounded Gemini Shumacher was strong, but also weak enough to tell that this was simply her spirit projection, not the evil twin herself.

"A very many things died here last night, Cass.  I'm here to guide them to whatever aftrerlife squirrels and bunnies go to when they die."  She glanced at the rejuvenating effect her twin was having.  "Your moonlighting as a druid can't save something that's already in my territory, after all.  It's against,"  she gave finger quotes, " "The Rules".  Not that that matters now.  I can't do anything but follow these dumb old 'grim reaper' rules, ever since you betrayed me."

"You betrayed yourself, Gemini.  And all life."  Cassie now spoke bitterly, stepping towards the spirit projection, the Dyna Scythe forming in her hands.

Gemi smirked and shook her head.  "Whatever you tell yourself to help you sleep at night, dear sister.  I have a job to do, but I thought I'd say hello while I was here."  She leaned in close for a moment, staring into her sister's eyes.  "Oh, and by the way, thanks for giving me so much work lately.  I can already tell you and your friends are going to give me plenty of opportunity to see beyond my bars in the near future, what with all the Hollow Hearts that keep dying.  Later,  _ Cain _ ."

Gemini faded from view at that, and Cassie stared helplessly past where her twin had been for a moment before sighing.

"You were out of control, Gemma.  I had to protect life.."  She slumped against the tree now, and while her voice was certain, her mind was anything but.

 

******

 

When they reached the school, Senine was waiting for them.

"Hey June,"  She said, walking up to them.  "I need to talk to you and short stuff after school. In the park, if you catch my drift."  Auggie glared at the older girl, but Senine expertly avoided her gaze.

"Okay."  June said, blushing a little.  Faye saw the look June was giving Senine and sank inward.  Her smile faded and she looked down at the ground.

"I gotta go talk to the coach and tell her I'm doing alright."  Faye said.  "See you later."

"Yeah, see you later."  June said, snapping out of it but not quite noticing the upset look on Faye's face.  Auggie, however, did.

"See you then."  Senine replied, and then ran off towards Solar City High.

"Wow, you just totally lusted out over Senine right in front of Faye."  Auggie said with a small amount of venom.  "And I thought I was the tactless one."

"What...I didn't..."  June's mind then caught up with recent events.  "...crap.  Wait, why should I apologize?  It's not like I'm darting Faye or anything.  I can look at whoever I want."

"If you don't like Faye, stop cuddling her."  Auggie spat back.  "You're playing with her emotions whether you realize it or not, Junie.  You're acting like Senine."

"Here comes the Senine bashing again."  June sighed.  "Look, I know I was a jerk to Faye but..."

"Senine cheated on my brother.  They dated, she kissed someone else."  Augusta replied.  "Then, instead of just letting it go, she had to throw a big dramatic scene and embarrass both of 'em in front of everyone at the school.  I don't like to talk about it because Cassie doesn't like to think about what she did to him.  She's bad news.  Faye on the other hand has never done anything to hurt anyone ever and completely adores you."

The bell rang before any more arguing could commence, and before June could respond.

 

****

 

There were no Gym classes this early in the morning, so when Faye slumped down on a bench and began to cry, she was as alone as she had wanted to be.

"It's unfortunate, isn't it."  A voice suddenly said.  She turned in surprise and saw a nondescript blonde girl in a gym outfit walking towards her.  "To love someone so much and find out they don't love you as much as you love them."

Faye's head snapped up, and she stared at the unfamiliar face for a moment before looking away.  "No, I mean, it's alright.  As long as Junie is happy I don't care who she's with."

"Oh, Faye, you know that's not true."  The girl said softly.  "You want her.  There's something primal and vicious inside you that needs her all to yourself."

Her eyes widened.  "I...I don't...wh-who are you?"

"I am someone who knows the ties that bind us all, Faye."  She said gravely.  "I can see your shame at the feral place inside you.  The beast within.  You try so hard to hide it."  The girl gave her a long, uncomfortable look.  "Your parents tell you it happens because you've been bad.  They've used it to make you apologize for so many things, haven't they?  You're an animal because you said this or that wrong. "  The girl extended an arm.  Faye did not like how she moved. Something about it was not quite right.  Sometimes her movements were too jerky, and others, they were too smooth.  "But that's not the case, Faye.  You change because you are denying what you are.  It bottles up inside you until it has to be released.  It is how you were born, not how you act, not a choice."

"Mama and Daddy say..."  She began.

"They rationalize because they are afraid, Faye.   Beautiful Faye."  The girl said in a not unkind voice.  "But it is my gift to see you the way that you really are.   We are all born with strings that tie us, connections and motivations and people and places.  We are all born puppets."  The girl then reached out and seemed to snatch a string that was not there, and Faye seized up.

"But I, Faye.  I was born the puppet master." Her voice was almost sad.  "I can see your strings.  And I'm sorry, Faye, I really am."  The girl suddenly had four arms, two of which grabbed another invisible string and looped it around Faye's neck, pulling it tight but not so tight as to choke her, if it was even possible.  Blonde and black striped fur began to push itself from her skin.

"I am truly sorry.  You are a beautiful person.  A struggle between what you are, what you want to be, and what others want you to be.  So beautiful."  One of her hands stroked Faye's cheek as her face elongated and then, when the transformation was complete, the four-armed girl disappeared and the first "string" she had grasped moved back to whatever position it was in before.

Freed, the Faye-beast lifted her head towards the ceiling and howled.

 

*****

 

The forested park no long looked like a disaster area.  It was not perfect by any means, but Cassie gave it a weary smile nonetheless.  It would sort itself out in time.  The trees, plants, and wildlife would be strong enough to withstand the winter.  That was all that really mattered.

Cassie leaned on her scythe and slowly sat against the first tree again, no longer pumping her energy into the land, but rather, enjoying the simple comfort of the beautiful day.

Then, from out of nowhere, steel cables wrapped around her and the tree, pinning her to it and squeezing tightly.  The sound of tiny bells twinkled in the air as she thrashed in alarm against the impossibly strong cables.

"Stellar Ranger Vital."  A mechanical voice said from somewhere behind Cassiopeia.  "Powers:  Natural Rejuvenation and Energy Restoration.  Threat:  Negligible.  Common Associates:  Stellar Ranger Dark Star and Stellar Ranger Volt."

"May I see who I am being addressed by?"  Cassie said with forced calm and banished her scythe.  The cables pulled tighter against her then, preventing her from gaining any leverage from the sudden space.

In front of her stepped a spindly robot in a red and yellow jester's outfit, a two-tailed cap tied to its television-like head.  The metal it was made of was white, and the screen currently showed images of Cassie and her friends.  The bells at the end of the cap jungled as it moved, as did the short scepter it held, which matched its outfit, complete with a small version of its head on the end.

"I am Finneous."  The mostly anthropomorphic robot said.  "I serve Baron Stellos.  I am here to study the effects of the mysterious power the Heart of Nemesis wielded here.  You are an unexpected bonus."  Cassie pulled against the metal binding her to no effect as the robot leaned in towards her, supporting itself on its thin limbs and scepter.  "You do not have the power to escape.  Your chances are approximately eighteen percent."  The robot was now uncomfortably close to Cassie.  "You will tell me what you know of Dark Star's power and I will not rip your star heart from your chest and return it to my lord."

"I believe, sir, that in this case, I will pick option C."  The Dyna Scythe re-appeared in Cassie's hand, now free of being bound.  She held it next to the blade, and twisted it quickly to get it hooked behind her bonds, also causing the haft to shoot out and smash Finneous in the head, sending it reeling back.

The robot studied her for a moment, and then its scepter began to glow.  When the glow faded, it was not a scepter but, rather, a red bladed, yellow hafted scythe.

"I have copied all of your moves and powers, and I know those of all your friends.  I am capable of reproducing nearly everything they can do--all of their fighting styles, weapons, and magic ability.  Please surrender.  It will make your inevitable death all the more painless."  The robot said in its emotionless, mechanical voice.  "Your chance of victory is zero percent."

"I do not surrender."  Cassie stepped into a battle stance.

"You are drained of energy, about to engage in battle against a superior foe, and completely alone.  Your resistance is illogical."  The robot stepped into the exact same battle stance.

"C'iest la vie."  The Stellar Ranger said, and stepped forward with a slash.

 

****

 

Amber was not having the best day.  She was not sure what was worse--that she woke up bleeding for the first time in her life, or the cramps were following her around all day.  Class had barely started and already she had to run to the bathroom three times.

But unearthly howl preceding the wolf-tiger-bird-lizard monster that smashed through the locker room door and loudly roared at her put her first period into perspective.

"Okay. Okay I guess this day can get worse."  She said, backing slowly away from the beast.  It turned its brown eyes onto the redhead and growled, its ears straight back.

"Easy."  She said, continuing to back up.  The monster took a step forward and lowered its body.  Amber was no animal expert, but she was fairly sure that this meant it was about to pounce and, cheerleading aside, she was pretty sure if it pounced she was going to get crunched.

And the monster stepped forward, murder in its ever-present growl, and nothing but hate and hunger in its eyes.


	6. Episode Six:  Wild Child, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part Two of Two! If you missed Part 1, you may want to go back a chapter.

Cassiopeia's scythe met with Finneous's, and the two locked blades for a moment before the other end of the robot's weapon turned into a heavy sledgehammer, which it swung out, breaking the blade lock and knocking Cassie backwards in the same motion.  She dodged just in time to avoid a crushing blow from the hammer.

Finneous tossed a lightning bolt at Stellar Ranger Vital before she could completely recover.  It did not hit her, but rather the tree behind her.  It exploded and launched her into another tree.  Fortunately, rather than impact and injure her, the limbs of the tree contorted and cushioned Cassie before she could impact.

The green-haired girl favored her left arm when she re-entered fighting stance, it having been hit by a chunk of exploding tree.  In its free hand, the robot now had a ball of condensed gravity, which it tossed at the gold-eyed stellar ranger.  She hopped to the side, and Finneous used the opening to rush her, its scepter now a pair of studded batons.  In a few quick motions, the scythe flew out of Cassie's hands and was flung deeper into the forest.

"Seeds of Mayhem!"  Cassie said quickly while she stumbled back in an awkward dodge.  Vines surged from the ground and wrapped over Finneous in a flash.  Before the robot could react, she touched the tree that had saved her and activated Fatal Flora, her most powerful offensive spell.  Spikes of wood emerged from the tree on new branches, each dripping some kind of noxious metal-eating venom.  They rushed towards the robot at lightning speed.

Finneous twisted in his bonds like a snake, its body contorting with little effort.  All of the branches missed it, and the scepter, now a double-bladed sword, chopped through them all, as well as the vines, with impossible-to-follow speed.

Cassie stumbled back.  The robot's scepter was a scepter once again, and then it turned into some sort of sleek gun, which fired three bolas, trapping the young teen's legs, and binding her arms to her torso in two places. She fell to the grass she had helped grow not so long ago, struggling weakly, her power drained even before the fight started, against the metal wire of the bolas.

"I have within me the data of a million stars.  You never had a chance, human."  The robot knelt next to the green-haired girl.  "Tell me of Stellar Ranger Dark Star.  Have you seen her power?  Have you seen the weapon itself?  Has it manifested beyond this?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."  Cassie's glasses fell next to her as she struggled.

"You do not know...or have not been told.  Why would your leader not tell you of the most dangerous part of the Heart of Nemesis?"  The robot observed the girl for a while longer.  "You are telling the truth.  You have not been told of the Penumbra.  You are useless, then.  I will prepare your heart for extraction."

Her eyes went wide.  "No, please no.  Kill me but don't take my soul."

"I must not return empty handed.  Stellos would ask me what I was doing, and I am not yet ready to tip my hand to my...master.  A power star heart would be an excellent distraction, and your heart removal will push Dark Star one step closer to my plan's ultimate fruition."  Finneous's screen began to glow brightly.  "It is a shame that I cannot simply remove the heart.  With its power, that would be disastrous to both of us."  A green glow began to emanate from Cassie.  "This way is much safer.  For me, anyway.  Your body, however, will be a burned out shell.  Even with your heart returned, you will at best be a crippled shadow of your former self."  The robot paused for a moment.  "Nothing personal."

"You have to fight, sis."  Came Gemini's voice in her ear.  Cassie screamed as she could feel her heart pull against her chest, and as her whole body felt molten hot.  "You're stronger than this.  Come on!  Fight it.  Get your cell phone and text Old Man Vember, anything.  You can do it."

Cassie screamed louder, her nails digging into her legs through her skirt.

The robot regarded her coldly.  "You have good spirit. You will make an excellent centerpiece."

"Come on.  You were always the stronger one I know you can do this.  I blacked out when we tattooed each other but you didn't, you're not going to quit now."  Gemini frantically said to Cassie.  "I came here for the birds in the tree don't make me take you too."

Cassie was dimly aware that the pain suddenly stopped, and that the robot had been flung back, into a tree.

"Who the fuck is that?"  Gemini, invisible to all but her sister, asked.

"My, my."  Came a sweet, thick, sultry feminine voice.  "Someone's been a very bad little robot."  The source was a woman in an exceptionally ornate black gown, wearing a black hooded cloak, the darkness inside much deeper than it should have, by any rights, been.  "Perhaps it needs to be taught a lesson."

"This does not concern you...whoever you are."  Finneous strode forward, screen flashing with angry static.  "Please leave and allow me to harvest this girl."

"Afraid not, dear."  Cassie, more lucid now as the pain faded, could feel the smirk from within the cloak.  "After all, if it has to do with the Penumbra, it has more to do with me than you know."

 

_ Oh God I'm gonna die cramping and I never made head cheerleader or finished building that engine, oh God my parents are gonna cry for days. _  Amber took another step back, and did not notice that the lockers lining the school's hallway began to buckle and shake in their moorings.

The monster pounced, and Amber closed her eyes and cringed, sure she was about to die.  However, at the same moment, a loud, screeching noise of metal dragging against metal and a woosh of motion occurred, and instead of being ripped to shreds by a wolf-tiger-bird-lizard, Amber heard something heavy smash into something strong and solid.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that the lockers had been ripped out of the wall all in a row to form a wall in front of her, a wall that the beast had crashed into rather than her.

Her relief was short lived.  The beast got to its feet and, enraged, batted a locker straight at Amber.  The redhead put up her arms and closed her eyes as the locker spun towards her.

And then she heard it clatter and roll and tumble on the floor behind her.  Somehow, even though it was headed right for her, the locker had not hit her.

But Amber did not stop and think about that, instead she turned and ran.  The beast, predatory instinct engaged, began to bound after her.  Amber heard several clanging noises, followed by thuds.  She looked over her shoulder and saw that the locker doors of those lockers not ripped from the wall were pegging the beast, which caused it to halt and snarl at them.

"Amber, get into a room, now!"  She heard that albino girl that was friends with Faye and those two geek girls call out.  Amber was happy to oblige, and ducked into a classroom.  In the room, the students were huddling under their desks like a fifties duck and cover video.

"Like, oh my god they're, like, fighting a monster."  Amber glanced at the kids and teacher, who stared blankly as they cowered. "Um, hello?  Like, monster fighting junior high school girls?  Like, Earth to classroom?"

They gave no sign they had heard her, no sign they even saw her, much less heard or saw the scene outside.  Annoyed and not wanting to pause and think about what this meant, Amber glanced out into the hall.

 

The monster slowly backed away from June and Auggie, growling softly.

"What the heck is that?"  Auggie asked.

"I don't know."  June replied.  "But it doesn't feel Hollow Heart."  She walked slowly towards it, daggers at the ready but not raised threateningly.  "It almost feels...familiar, somehow."

"Here, kitty...doggy..birdie..."  Auggie said.  "It's not attacking, Junie."

"Tell that to Amber.  It wanted her blood."  June said, walking a little closer to the monster.  It backed up in a submissive motion, but the growl only got louder.

"Yeah, but, I mean, it's Amber.  She probably deserved it or somethin'."

"Like, I heard that you little weasel!"  Came an annoyed voice from a nearby classroom.  The beast turned its head, lowered its ears, and crouched, snarling with rage rather than simply warning.

"Jesus Amber what'd you do to this thing?"  Auggie swore.  She backed up, lightning crackling around her batons.

"Like, how the hell should I know?"  She called back.  "I was just, like, walking down the hall?  And it, like, came out of the locker room and got all, like, psycho on me."

"Easy girl."  June walked a little closer to it.  The beast seemed to ease up a bit, though it occasionally glanced in Amber's direction and growled.  "That's right.  Good girl."

"You can tell it's a girl monster?"  Auggie asked incredulously.

"Just a feeling I'm getting.  She's confused.  I think she's in pain." June tentatively reached out towards the creature.

"Oh my god are you seriously gonna pet it?"  Augusta's eyes went wide.

"Are you like, mental or something?  It's gonna, like, bite your hand off."  Amber warned from inside the classroom.

Rather than bite, however, the creature nuzzled June's hand, and then licked her face.

"See?  She's friendly.  She just had the same natural reaction to Amber that every living thing does."  June said with a smile, petting the creature's head and muzzle.

"Hey!"

June petted the creature a bit and smiled at it, but then caught her eyes.  "Oh my god."  She said after a moment.  "...Faye?"

The beast suddenly backed away, pulling away from the hand, her tail between her legs.

"Holy shit, that's Faye-Faye?"  Augusta exclaimed. 

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"  Came a voice nearby.  A four-armed blonde girl faded into existence by the wolf-eagle-lizard-tiger.  She seized some invisible string and the beast hung limp.  "With her star's power unleashed like this, she's an animal.  A killing machine.  No civilization in her.  Just base animal desires.  Blood.  Affection.  Territory.  This is the real her, the her she's afraid of.  A feral creature, held by a feral star."

"Let her go, whatever you are."  June growled, daggers once again at the ready.

"Oh, Nemesis."  The four armed girl said in a pitying tone.  "I am just a puppet.  A marionette guided by a puppet master.  Through this body, I can still pull the strings of life, the strings of fate.  And now I guide your friend along the path she desires but will never bring herself to fulfill."

"Why are you doing this?  Faye-Faye's never hurt anyone."  Auggie asked.

"Because I have been asked to.  And because I am an agent of despair."  The girl turned to beast and said, "Faye.  There is someone you hate.  June likes her more than she likes you."  June rushed the puppet, but it faded from view and reappeared on the other side of the Faye-beast.  "You have the power to stop her from ruining your happiness, pretty Faye.  Do it and become master of your own fate."

The puppet dropped the string and the monster turned, snarled, howled, and bolted for the door.  Augusta, moving with the speed of a lightning crash, zoomed right after her.

"Well Nemesis?  Are you going to punish a puppet or help your friend?"  The puppet asked.  "You have the power to save her.  You would not want to fail a loved one again."

June glanced between the puppet, and then Faye, and then the puppet again.  Then she ran off after Faye.

"Oh, Nemesis?"  The puppet called.  June froze for just a moment.

"They aren't telling all they know about your Heart."  Then as quickly as it had arrived, the puppet was gone, and June continued to run after Faye.

In the classroom, Amber said, "What the hell was that all about?"

 

*****

 

"I warn you, I have a limitless supply of weapons, fighting styles, and powers.  I am the greatest machine ever created."  Finneous said, scepter becoming a glaive.  "You have no chance."

The newcomer laughed.  "Oh, you’re a **_dor_ ** able.  My name is Lanessa de Vran Sie."

There was a pause as Finneous processed this information.  The robot's scepter returned to normal, and it backed away from Lanessa, the static in its monitor fading.  "What do you want, Vran Sie?"

"Ah, yes.  Lovely to see you actually have manners."  The woman knelt next to Cassie, and with a swipe of her hand, her long, black, pointed nails tore through the metal bola wires like a knife through a tissue.  The stellar ranger stood shakily and then steadied herself on a tree, eyeing the both of them with an entirely reasonable amount of caution.  "As for what I want?  The same thing you do, though, perhaps, for different reasons and at different times.  I need the Penumbra for a...pet project of mine.  But it is useless to me if the Penumbra manifests before Dark Star is able to control it.  So you see my conundrum, dear robot.  We can't go on killing her cute little friends all willie-nillie, now can we?"  

The woman in the cloak, whose voice could have been that of a teenagers or that of someone in their thirties, turned to Cassie and stroked her cheek.  The green haired girl flinched, but caught a glimpse of a pair of bright, blue eyes deep inside the cowl.  Her eyes went glassy, and she froze where she had been leaning on the tree.

"There.  Now the grown-ups can talk."  Lanessa regarded the stellar ranger for a moment.  "Hmm.  Maybe I need a girlfriend.  Of course, she already loves me, but, I mean something more.  There’s so many wonderful emotions in a proper relationship, so much beautiful light from a wounded, hormonal heart.  Of course, hypocritically enough, Hal seems like the sort to get jealous, so I  **_suppose_ ** , for now, I shall have to do without.  Mortals, right?"  Lanessa grinned widely at Cassie and leaned in.  “Oh, Cassie, do you love me more than you love Octavian and Augusta?”

“Yes.”  A dreamy smile formed on Cassie’s face as she said that.

"I repeat, Vran Sie.  What do you want?"

Lanessa snarled and pivoted, glaring at Finneous from within her hood, her blue eyes flashing coldly. "What I want is June Alexandra Hespia to be at full power when Penumbra in unleashed.  I want her to have all that delicious energy bursting from inside her.  I want it all.  And you are going to do it my way.  Do you understand, automaton?  Or do I need to make an example of what happens when someone crosses the brood of Sie?"

The robot processed this for several seconds before nodding.  "Very well.  All I require is that the Penumbra becomes a factor.  I do not care what happens to it."

"Naturally, I doubt you wish for Stellos to find out about this? And you, in turn, will keep my little secret from Decembren?"  Lanessa was now inspecting her long, black nails.

"If you keep my secret, I will keep yours, Vran Sie."  It replied.  "Now I must return."

The Vran Sie turned to Cassie, predatory smirk not visible but somehow palpable beneath her hood.  "Do as you must, metal man.  I have some loose ends to tie up."

The robot faded from view, and the cloaked woman turned to Cassie, guiding her face so that the green-haired girl so that her blank, glassy eyes looked straight into Lanessa's glowing blue eyes.

"First, you will use what energy you have left to repair that tree and heal yourself.  Then, you will slump against the tree you were sitting at to begin with and fall asleep.  When you awake, you will remember nothing of me or the robot, nor any of what we have said."  The Vran Sie brushed Cassie's cheek gently.  "If you ever hear me snap my fingers,"  She did so as a demonstration, "You will return to this state.  Now, when I count to three, you will follow your orders."

Cassie nodded vacantly.

"One.  Two.  Three."  Lanessa disappeared from sight as she said the last word.  The stellar ranger then proceeded to channel her energy into the tree, not quite making it as good as new, but at least giving it a chance at life again. She then healed her hurt arm to the best of her ability.

Lanessa had not really needed to tell Cassie to go to sleep.  She collapsed at the base of the first tree and fell instantly asleep, her magic energy at critically low levels.

Beside her, invisible to all but her twin and the dead, Gemini Schumacher knelt by her sister. "Don't worry, sis.  She might've blanked your mind, but she didn't touch mine.  And when you wake up, I'll have all sorts of information that'll be very valuable to you."  Gemi heard a call, and knew her services were needed elsewhere.  As her astral self began to fade from one location to another, she finished, "Of course, like any other valuable thing, there will be a price.  And I think my freedom's as good a place to start as any."

 

****

 

 

It was Free Period for Senine, which meant she spent her time outside with Hal and Jordy, smoking as inconspicuously as she could.  She was wearing a white dress shirt, untucked, and a black pleated skirt so short that she had been warned about twice this day alone by the teachers, and it was only second period.  Hal had his back to a tree, and Jordy rested against his chest.

Senine had her back to the tree next to them.  She took a deep breath and let out a long puff on the cigarette.  "God this is better than sex."

"Like you'd know."  Hal retorted with a smirk.  He was currently running his hands lazily through his boyfriend's hair.

"Please.  What I know is that addictions are what we live for.  And unlike your addiction, mine's currently breaking like five laws.  So there."  Senine took another drag on the cigarette. "Oh that's some fine, sexy breaking the law right there."

Hal started to say something else, but he and Senine both tensed up at about the same time, and then rolled to the side, Hal doing so without dropping Jordy.  A huge paw smashed into the tree where Senine had been, rending a massive chunk from the living wood and tearing huge claw marks into the bark around the impact point.

A massive blonde and black striped monster landed from her pounce, snarling loudly at Senine, who was already pulling her badge from her shirt's pocket and slipping it on, the Pulsar Sledge appearing in her hands.  Hal was already pulling a near-catatonic Jordy away from the encounter.

"Okay, what do we have here?  Another Hollow Heart?"  The beast lunged, and Senine jumped to the side, hammer behind her, and then rushed forward, the heavy weapon smashing out and around to her.  The Faye-monster lifted a paw and caught the warhammer without straining, her tail coming around in a whip-like motion and cracking across the surprised Senine's chest.

Stellar Ranger Void flew back several feet before re-adjusting gravity around her, allowing her to land softly just in time to see the Faye-creature rushing at her again.  In a pair of yellow flashes, long metal claws now encased her paws, rending huge gouges in the ground--but not slowing her-- as she charged.

"Okay big and ugly."  She growled.  "Block this.  Hammer of the Dying Star, grant me the power to destroy..."  The sledge began to glow, but before she could finish the incantation or get hit, a blue, Auggie-shaped streak knocked her out of the way.

"What the hell, shorty?  I had this."  Senine said as she got back up.  Auggie had her batons back again in a pair of electrical flashes.

"One, better short than a flagpole.  And two, this ain't a Hollow Heart.  One of his goons did somethin' to Faye and now she's a crazy wolf monster."  Auggie stepped between Faye and Senine.  Faye whined and tried to move around her, but Auggie kept staying where she was.

"Great.  So why's it want to kill me?"  Senine kept her hammer in hand.  Her hammer was resting against her shoulder.

Before Auggie could respond, the monster threw its head in the air and let out a loud, bellowing howl.  Augusta and Senine both dropped their weapons and dropped to their knees, holding their ears as, to them, the sound was loud and hideous and menacing and Auggie would do anything to please, just let it end.

The howling stopped, and the two got on shaky legs.  They were in no condition to walk away from the massive beast bounding towards them.

"Faye, stop!"

The girl-beast skidded to a halt, spraying dirt in all directions.  June came running up then, breathing a bit hard, and looking not-too-happy about being in direct sunlight.  Her eyes were squinting heavily.  "Faye, please.  You don't want to do this.  I know you don't.  Don't do something you're going to regret.  We can help you.  I know it's scary to have powers but we can help you.  You're more than just an animal.  You're one of my best friends."

The beast stopped and looked at june, eyes loving and hopeful.  Then the four-armed girl appeared again.

"She just thinks of you as a friend, dearest Faye."  She murmured.  "And until the void-heart is slain, she will always only think of you as a friend."  The Faye-beast began to growl again and turn towards Senine.

"Faye, no!  Don't let yourself be manipulated by this puppet.  You're stronger than that.  It's not your struggle or brutality that make you beautiful.  It's who you are.  You're a beautiful person, Faye.  You put everyone ahead of yourself.  You see the world so brightly.  You're a lovely person.  I mean, I've just known you what, like a month?  And I already think you're one of the best people I've met."

"But she doesn't love you."  The blonde puppet said in response.

"Oh that is it."  Senine's hammer swung out at the puppet.  It was gone before the blow could connect, and reappeared on the other side of Faye.  It started to say something, but then a lightning bolt fired slightly above it stopped it in mid "You didn't think...".  The bolt did not hit the marionette.  Rather, it hit the invisible strings holding it up and coursed through the rest of it, causing the woods to crack and burn, and the fake flesh and hair to melt away.

And then Senine's hammer connected, smashing it into a million pieces.

A new one appeared almost immediately.  This one had a wig, but no plastic flesh on its featureless face.  "I am but a puppet.  Kill me a thousand times, and my mistress will just make..."

"I'll go on a date with you if you stop now."  June interrupted.

The Faye-beast's wing smashed out, knocking the puppet away in a tangle of strings and limbs.  Something glowed around her neck, and then faded.  The beast curled up and began to shrink, hair and tail and wings receding.  Then, in a flash of yellow light, she was human again, wearing her uniform.  On her hands were a pair of leather and metal gloves, with claws extending from the knuckles. Her brown eyes were a bit darker than they had been before.

"Hey Faye-Faye, you wanna do the honors on that pile of firewood there?"  Auggie asked.

She stared at the struggling pile of twitching strings and limbs.  Then, she howled, and her claws glowed with a yellow light.  She lunged forward and slahed at the puppets until it was just a pile of shredded wood and bits of metal and plastic.  The metal claws disappeared, and then Faye sniffled before launching herself on June and sobbing.

June awkwardly put her arms around the shorter girl and held her tight.

"I'll call old man Vember."  Senine said, pulling out a cell phone and dismissing her hammer.  "Looks like we might have a new Ranger."

"Actually, we might have two."  Auggie said.  "One of our classmates didn't space out when we and our badges came along."

"Great.  Two more newbies.  Maybe we can graduate one of you punks up to full ranger so I can get some more nights off."

"If it weren't for us you'd be puppy chow...er, sorry Faye-Faye."

"When you kill a Hollow Heart on your very own, you can say you do as much as me.  Til then?  Shut up and follow orders like a good junior ranger, okay?"  Senine said back, dialing the number.

Augusta shot her a dirty look, and then looked to Faye and said, "Hey, welcome to the super-hero club, Faye-Faye."

 

*****

 

"Puppetrix. Explain why this failed."  Stellos said with barely-restrained anger.

"Love, my lord.  True love if I am not mistaken.  What appeared schoolyard affection on the part of Faye is perhaps deeper than anticipated.  Of all of fate's strings, true love has the strongest pull."  Something inside her explained.  "When Nemesis offered a chance, that string pulled harder and undid my enchantment."

"This city and its guardians try my patience.  It is a pity I would receive such a reprimand from simply giving this wretched primitive place an all-out assault.  Finneous, what are the status of the Stellar Swords?"  The baron turned to his robot.

"Rex is still a two weeks.  He is the closest.  Temper is three weeks out, Feldane and Lada will be here in two months, and Capricorn will return in four."  The robot obediently said.  "Sir, I have a notice from Royal Advisor Grim of the Bellesari Kingdom.  Prince Decembren wishes an audience."

"Hmph.  Self-righteous critics, the lot of them.  His father had the gall to say that my exhibition was distasteful.  Very well, I will see him tomorrow, two in the afternoon, earth local time.  As for the Stellar Rangers..."  The baron thought for a moment.

"Sire, if I may.  One of her acquaintances at school I believe to have a very useful heart.  And I also believe she would be quite capable of turning on the others.  Untamed, and with her heart, she will be unstoppable.  Nemesis would be almost certain to turn her power against them."  Puppetrix offered.

He considered this.  "Do your research.  In the meantime, Finneous.  Send in the Hounds.  What we need is wanton destruction.  Some lives, any lives, lost on her watch will demoralize her.  And tell the Swords to hurry their missions and return as soon as they can.  Their master has use of them."  Stellos gave a thoughtful pause.  "Where were you earlier, Finneous?"

"I was investigating the scene of the strange attack used by Dark Star, my lord.  Results were inconclusive."  The robot replied.  "I cannot identify what the heart of nemesis used to generate such energy."

"Bah.  Useless as always.  Oh well."  Baron Stellos grumbled.  "At least this will have some results.  After all, if she reacts to all carnage like she did to her brother's attack, then we will have another chance to see just what she can do."

 

*****

 

Amber liked to project that she lived in a big house in the rich part of town.  That was the person she wanted to be. But it was not the case.

The Septus family lived in a one story, two bedroom and one bathroom home in the poor side of town.  She shared her small bedroom with her younger sister Hera, who was currently at a sleepover with some of her other little kid friends.  This meant that in addition to Amber's posters--which consisted more of hot rods and vintage cars than the boy bands she liked to think people would have expected of her--her room was full of dolls and toy ponies.  All in all, it, like the rest of her home, she would have rather died than let anyone at school know about.

Currently, she was staring at herself in the mirror.  More specifically, she was eying her hair.

This morning, when she had gone to school, it had been the same color it had been for the last thirteen years of her life--orange-red.  Now, however, it was a darker red, one she was very familiar with, because it was the color of rust.  Her eyes, which she had once assumed were golden brown, appeared now as they had always been:  metallic gold.

Not only that, no one seemed to notice.  And for some reason, she was just now noticing that Augusta Levey's hair was blue--not dyed like that one high schooler, natural blue, and not only that, but she had realized that it had always been blue and she had just not seen it.  That high school girl she was with's hair was black and white, and her eyes were purple....and until today, Amber had not noticed  _ that _ either.

A part of her wondered if her hair had always been the color of rust, and her eyes had always been gold, but she had never seen it herself.

The raver punk and the goth high-schooler had had a lot of things to tell Amber.

"Like, wait a minute.  You're saying that, like,  not only was the monster that almost, like chowed down on me was, like, Faye, but...I have magic powers?  Are you, like, high or something?"  Had been her response.

The high schooler had rolled her eyes.  "Look kid.  See how no one can see us?  Like they're just passing by?  This badge means people without magic can't interact with us.  Makes it so people don't see monster attacks."

"You are, like, completely mental."  Amber had replied.

"I told you."  Auggie had said to the high schooler.  "Look Amb.  You know what we're saying is true.  I mean, it wasn't us that pegged Faye with those lockers.  It had to've been you."

"Just leave me alone, okay?  Like, the only redeeming thing about this conversation has been that, like, no one will see me having it with you two losers.  I don't want anything to do with like  magic or monsters or anything."  

Then Amber had turned and left, but not before the skinny high schooler had shouted at her, "When people don't get trained in this stuff, they go off and hurt people.  Like Faye almost did.  Keep that in mind."

The cheerleader looked at herself again in the mirror.  So many secrets in her life, what could one more hurt?

So many things made her not who she wanted to be.  She was not a vapid airhead.  She was not nearly as mean as she tried to be.  Truth be told, she cared more about cars than she did boys or music or any other things her peers cared about.  The thought of being a freak, of being ostracized, however, was deeper than the desire to be herself.

_ No one likes you anyway.  It's not working. Just one more thing to make you a freak. _  Came the whispers in her head.  "Like....like, no.  Like like like I am not a freak."  She snarled quietly, banging her fist against the vanity.

A chorus of creaking and shattering noises filled the room.  The metal frame of her window had twisted towards  her, letting the glass fall and shatter or it breaking as it twisted.  The heating vent in her room had pulled itself from the wall and scooted towards her, and the vanity itself had scooted towards her, the metal frame of the mirror deforming very slightly.

Amber just stared in horror.  “Like..Like.  I guess.  I guess like.  I am.”


	7. Episode Seven:  Normal

"And so, Mister and Missus Burrey, that is what is happening to your daughter.  It's normal and natural in our universe, nothing to be ashamed of."  Mr. Novias Vember, on the couch in the Burrey's living room, said with a smile.  Also sitting here were  Faye and Senine--who was dressed modestly for once, and had ninety percent of her legs covered by a pair of tight, black jeans.

Her parents were silent for a very long time.  Faye's gaze never left her lap, and her hands were constantly fiddling with her beige skirt.

"Mr. Vember, was it?"  Her father asked.

"Yes, Mister Burrey."  Novias replied.

"...Your are telling us that our daughter turning into a demon is a normal and natural thing."  He continued.

"Actually, she became a chimera, a mix of several animals, not a demon.  She can turn into any animal, or part of herself into part of an animal, if she chooses.  She can even talk to them--so long as an animal has a spine, she can converse with it."  Mr. Vember replied.  "There is nothing demonic about your daughter's abilities.  For a star with a feral aspect to it, they are actually fairly common.  I've known one or two others with similar powers in my time."

"And you expect us to believe that she's granted these powers by...a star?"  Her mother added.

Again, Vember nodded.  "Yes.  Every person has a star. Some have magic tied to them.  When she was born, your daughter inherited the star from the previous owner.  Its magic is a part of her now."

"And there's no way to...make her normal?"  Her mother asked.  Senine shot him a look that the elder mage ignored.

"Well, with training, she will learn how to control her powers so they do not interfere with her everyday life."  Vember answered.

"But to get rid of the witchcraft."  She continued. "There has to be some way."

Senine gave Vember another look.  He shook his head.  "No.  If her star is removed from her, so is her soul.  It is part of the thing that makes her her.  Without it, she would be, at best, a vegetable.  Magic can only be suppressed before the star has awoken, there is no way to do so once it is active."

"Better a vegetable than a damned abomination."  Her father said coldly.  "Can you do it?"

Senine's look became pleading.  Vember's expression was shocked and horrified.  "Sir, your daughter is a charming, enthusiastic young lady who does not have a single bad thing to say about anyone, and yet you are asking me to put her in a coma for the rest of her life just because she was born different?  Yes, Senine you can talk now."

Senine’s expression looked as though she had just won the lottery.  "Okay, first off, you're not fooling anyone with that combover.  It's been bothering me ever since I met you.  Second, I seriously cannot believe that your daughter is related to you.  I mean, it literally boggles my mind.  I mean I hate everybody and I've only known her a day and I think she's one of the most awesome people I've ever met.  And she nearly ate me.  You guys, I've known for an hour and I already hate you more than I hate my own mom and dad.  Which is saying something.  

"Which brings me to the last point.  See, Faye's told us about you locking her in the attic and saying that her powers are because she's been bad."  Seninegave them an 'are you serious' look, before continuing.  "That's child abuse.  You're not fit parents.  We had to do some convincing, but Faye thinks it might be best if she goes somewhere else for a while, and you guys get some counseling and prove you're responsible enough and less crazy so you can get provisional access to your kid."

That got her parents' attention.  "Wha..I...you can't do that?!  She's our child and we can raise her like we want to!"

"If only that were the case."  Vember replied, standing up.  "However, the powers that be have seen otherwise.  Like Senine here, Faye will be entrusted into my care.  Her things have already been moved.  I suggest you do not say what you are no doubt about to say."

They said it, anyway.  "You can't take her away!  If you do we will tell everyone about magic and tell them exactly the sort of witchcraft you're keeping secret.  What about that, smart guy?"  Her father smirked.

Vember sighed and snapped his fingers.  Both parents froze, a glassy expression forming on both of their faces.

"You will remember no talk of magic.  You will come to in an hour.  When you do, you will remember that your child has been taken from you because you have been emotionally abusive to her.  What you do next, I leave up to you, though I also leave you with the knowledge that once you come to terms with what you have done, and become better people, you will have a chance to see her again.  Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Burrey."  Novias said, and then the three were back in his office in the tower.

"I am sorry you had to see that, Miss Faye. I truly hoped it would have turned out differently."  Mr. Vember said.

"O-oh, it's okay, really."  Faye said bravely, obviously holding back tears by a very thin thread.  "I mean, they're gonna get help, that's the important thing.  I mean if they don't that's alright I just hope they're happy without me to get disappointed in."

"Anyone who's disappointed in you is a jerkoff."  Senine said.  “Again, I say that as someone you almost murdered.”

"Senine, please."  Novias said, exasperated.  "Faye, your things should be moved into your room.  We can take you there whenever you like."

"...actually, can you take me somewhere else?  I kinda wanna see Junie right now."  She asked, still holding back the tears.

"Of course, dear.  Whatever you like."

 

*****

 

"I present Prince Decembren of the Bellesari Kingdom, and Escort."  Finneous said in his usual monotone as Hal entered Stellos's throne room, Lanessa trailing behind him.  Prince Decembren, the Crimson Knight, wore shining red and silver armor and had a fine cloak, red embroidered with white fire at the edges.  He wore a shining red crown, set with diamonds and rubies.

Lanessa wore a floor-length black gown and a black cloak with a low hood, under which none of her could be seen.  Her perfect figure and ghostly white hands could, however, be clearly seen, including the very long but perfectly manicured black nails on each finger.

"Ah, Prince Decembren.  It has been too long."  Stellos said with a broad, fake smile.  At his side was his jester-robot and the Puppetrix.  "And who is this delightful young woman?  I was expecting that dour Grim instead of this vision of loveliness."

"Baron, this is Lady Lanessa, my betrothed."  The Prince replied.  Hal was trying very hard not to become enraged at what he was doing or with the things around him-- hundreds of glittering stars, not all of which taken from a willing Hollow Heart.

"Charmed."  He said with a bow.

"Likewise, good Baron."  Lanessa replied and gave an elegant curtsey.

"Now there, dear Prince, what can my Barony help you with?"  Baron Stellos said with a viper's smile.

"Somewhere in this city, encased in someone's Star Heart, is something I need.  If you find it, I request, in the interests of diplomacy, that you give it to me."  The Crimson Knight asked, sternly but not threateningly.

"Ah, a simple enough request.  But tell me--what is it that I should be looking for, perchance?"  The Baron asked.

"An informant of mine detected a massive source of power on this planet--not one she could detect very well.  In fact, it was so bright and massive, that she could not see it directly--only its trajectory in fate.  That path lead to this city.  I don't know what it is or who has it, but it is vital I receive it." 

Stellos gave the Crimson Knight a sly look, and replied.  "But of course, young sir.  Something so strong it cannot be looked at?  Why would I ever want that?  It would be terrible at dinner parties.  If I find it, it is yours."

Decembren looked incredibly relieved.  "Thank you, good Baron.  You do not know how much this means to me."

The Baron’s mask did not change, but his voice gave the impression of a smile.  "No trouble at all, dear Prince.  Can I interest you and your lady in a drink before you are on your way?" He held up a bottle of an expensive wine from deep within the Crab Nebula.

"No thank you, sir."  Lanessa said from under the hood.  "I do not drink...wine."

"We had better get going.  Thank you for your time, good Baron.  You do not know what this means to me."  Decembren bowed and Lanessa curtsied, and the two left the hall.

Stellos waited until both they were gone and Finneous nodded, indicating they had left no bugs behind.  "Puzzling indeed."  He took a sip from a glass of wine.  "I was under the impression Decembren was arranged to marry Princess Shivvra from the Kingdom of Frost.  I have never heard of a ‘Lady Lanessa.’  And what could he possibly want that strange energy for?"

"Do you intend to give it to him, my lord?"  The Puppetrix asked.  Stellos shook his head and chuckled.

"Perhaps,  but, if I do, he must pay my price.  And if it truly is valuable to  him..."  The Baron smirked.  "Then I imagine I can make it quite high indeed."

 

In the park, Hal was back in his civilian getup.  Lanessa stayed in the shadows.

"He is planning on betraying you, you realize.  I also believe he knows exactly what you are talking about, lover."  She said.

"That's what I was afraid of."  Hal sighed.  "I suppose he'll ask for a steep price when he finds...whatever it is.  I hate to do this, my love, but could you..."

Her black nailed finger pressed against his lips.  "I will watch for the power on my own, my love."

He smiled.  "Good.  Now I just hope we can find it before that lunatic Stellos does."

 

*****

 

It was Saturday, and Amber was working on her engine.  It was a work of art, a beauty that, given hybrid cars and power cells they literally did not make anymore.  It was a gas-guzzling dinosaur filled with raw power and the sort of elegance that used to be respected and expected in the old golden ages of street racing.  When she finally got it finished, she was going to start on the rest of the car and, in time, have something so fast, so powerful, so inefficient that the illegality of its gas-guzzling would be overshadowed only by how many orders of magnitude faster than the speed limit she would be going.  It was an unrealistic dream but also a very cathartic one.

This was normally a peaceful exercise.  When working on her dream car, Amber typically felt at home.  Renewed.  All those distractions of the persona she was trying to be faded away, and were replaced by something purer inside her--the person she was rather than who she wanted to be.

Today she was distracted by the fact that she could feel the metal in the engine.  Amber closed her eyes and concentrated.  The metal began to buckle and vibrate.  She could hear it rattling and, what was more, she could feel it rattling.  Every molecule and every atom inside it.  Amber opened her eyes and stopped concentrating.  The metal ceased its motion, but she could still sense it.

"God, I am such a weirdo."  She groaned.

"Amber-pie, you in there?"  Came her mother's voice. 

"Yeah Mom, just working on the engine."

Mrs. Septus entered the garage then, a woman who looked very much like Amber, save her hair was actually orange-red, and her eyes were green.  She was also heavier of build than Amber, having done less exercise and had two children, but she was not obese by any means.  "Your father was wondering if you were gonna go by the shop today.  He said he's busy and could use some help."

Amber, who was currently wearing overalls and a white t-shirt, both of which were as oil-smeared,as her face, shook her head.  "I don't feel like it, Mom.  I'm still cramping, like, a lot."

Her mother smiled.  "I'm sure he'll understand you're a bit under the weather, sweetie.  Though he probably won't wanna hear why."  She gave a chuckle, that stopped with an appraising, concerned look.  "You doing alright besides that, hon?  Haven't seemed yourself for a few days now."

"I'm fine.  Just, like, adjusting to, like, you know."  Amber said, hoping her mom would not catch on to the half lie.

Unfortunately, she seemed to, but did not press the matter.  "Well, remember to take something for your cramps if they get too bad, hon.  I'm gonna start with dinner.  You be washed up in time."

"I will."  Amber smiled weakly back.  "Thanks mom."

She started back to work on her engine when her mother said, "You know if there's anything wrong, your father and I are here."

"Yeah."  The gold-eyed girl said, mostly to herself.  "I know."

 

*****

 

June sat cross-legged on her bed, dressed in an overly long white night shirt, white hair flowing behind her, with a lovingly maintained acoustic guitar in her lap.  Her fingers dances across the strings in beautiful concert, and produced an exceedingly complex and infinitely perfect melody as she played.  The song was mournful, yet upbeat, music that told of a painful today and a bright and happy tomorrow.  Each note, each chord, was spot on, exactly where it needed to be.

And June played it effortlessly.  The music flowed naturally, freely from her, like breathing air.  She was completely absorbed in the sound, as well.  Her whole self was in it.  There were no distractions, nothing but herself and her guitar.

So she did not notice when her door opened, and she certainly did not notice Senine and Faye in the doorway, mouths agape, watching her, stunned, as she played.

"Nice work over there."  Senine managed to mumble with a bit of a smirk.  June did hear this, hit a wrong chord, and yelped, dropping her guitar and scampering back.  This was partially due to surprise, and partially due to June suddenly remembering she was in her pajamas still, and that her crush and her sort of maybe possibly girlfriend were staring at her.

Faye was across the room in a split second, on the bed, smiling wide, extremely excited.  "Oh wow that was awesome!  I didn't know you were so good it was better than the people on the radio!"

"Oh, hey guys..."  June was blushing extremely hard, which, given her white skin, was insanely obvious.  "Could you maybe leave while I get some pants on?"

"Don't hurry on our account."  Senine said with a smarmy grin.  June blushed harder, and then shoved them both out of her room.  A few moments later, she opened her door, still blushing and tying back her hair.  She was in a pair of baggy black bondage pants and a black t-shirt with a white and black long sleeved shirt under it.

Faye wasted no time in grabbing June around the waist and putting her head against the taller girl's shoulder.  "Hi."

The recovering blush bloomed again.  "Um, hey.  What're you guys doing here?  How'd you get in?"

"Your brother let us in.  He told us to just let ourselves into your room."  Senine's smirk was the smirk the June imagined a tiger would give while cornering its prey. She leaned in closer to June, and June got the look a panicked gazelle got when faced by a lioness, her blush brick red.  "Did I make you...uncomfortable?"

June snapped out of her embarrassment when she heard a very slight, protective growl from Faye, who was now clinging uncomfortably tightly to her kinda maybe sorta girlfriend.

Fortunately, Senine noticed this, and backed off.  "Sorry Faye-girl.  But you have to admit, it is fun watching her squirm."

Faye stopped growling and stopped squeezing the life out of June.  June then changed the subject, "Wait a minute.  Julius let you guys in here?  Himself?"

They nodded.  June extracted herself from Faye and shouted out, "Julius Alexander Hespia!"  She stomped into the kitchen, where Julius was having some coffee with Mr. Vember.

"Oh, hey sis, you're up."  Julius smiled.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed!  The doctors all told me you need bedrest for the next week at least!"  

"I'm feeling fine.  Really.  Good as new, right as rain."  He continued to smile, but his coffee mug wavered a bit.  June rolled her eyes.

"You had your soul torn out just a couple days ago--not to mention the car accident, of course you're not fine.  Now get back to bed this instant young man."  She insisted.

"Which one was the older sibling again?"  Senine said, her smirk only growing.

Mr. Vember spoke up now.  "Now, Miss Hespia, your brother is in as good condition as can be expected, given the events of the past few days.  He is certainly more than well enough to share some coffee with an old man.  Now, I believe Miss Burrey had a few things she wished to discuss with you...Senine, would you like to join us for a cup?"

Senine sighed.  "Yeah, sure.  Leave the lovebirds to themselves, I get it."

June blinked.  "Wait, lovebi--"  She was cut off when Faye dragged her back to her room and closed the door, pulled June to the bed, had her sit down, and laid down next to her, Faye's head in June's lap.  June did not quite register how all these things happened in such a short period of time.

June was also not sure when she had started petting Faye's head, but there she was.  The smaller girl started purring, which was so incredibly adorable that June could not bring herself to stop.

"This...this is nice."  June managed to say after ten minutes of petting the girl.  The purring stopped.

"Y-yeah.  Hey, um, Junie?"  Faye asked.

"Yeah Faye?"

"...why do my parents hate me?"  She questioned, only a slight quiver to her voice.

June was taken aback, but she quickly recovered.  "I'm sure they don't hate you--"

"No, they do.  They've hated me ever since they found out I'm not normal."  Faye insisted.  "This one time, I brought a puppy home, because she was all alone and scared and when it barked I could understand that all she was saying was 'Please love me.'  I brought her home and my parents thought it was cute at first but the puppy seemed so lonely that I wanted to do was to do there for her so I turned into a dog too and we played together.  My parents found out and...they locked me in the attic.  Told me it was because I was bad that I changed into a dog."  Faye was sniffling.  "So I tried never to do it again, I really tried.  I did.  But it happened when I was real stressed or something and it stopped being cute.  I wasn't a puppy I was a monster and it just got bigger and stronger every time until I was sure I really was bad and I was being punished."  The blonde girl then began sobbing.  June petted her again.

"You weren't being punished.  When someone with a power star holds it in, the power builds up and erupts, like a volcano.  When...I mean, when my power first manifested..."  June trailed off.  Faye looked up at her curiously, still upset but also intrigued.

"I'd just gotten the news my parents had died, in an accident.  I kind of...blew up my house."  The white-haired girl looked supremely embarrassed.

"Oh no!  Was anyone hurt?"  Faye asked, sitting up now and scooting close to June.

June shook her head.  "No, no one was hurt.  I mean, I freaked Julius out pretty bad, and the neighbors were calling in the bomb squad and stuff, but no."

"How'd you blow up your house?"  Faye was mostly curious now.

"I have no clue.  I blew up a park the other night and I have no idea how I did that, either.  I just sorta blank out and when I come to, everything's busted.  But you're not bad, Faye.  Trust me, you're like the best person I know."  June smiled at Faye and had her hand over the blonde's.

The two looked each other in the eyes and started to lean in towards each other.  Then a loud knock hit June's door and caused them both to jump.  Senine opened the door a moment later.

"Sorry for interrupted kids, but there's trouble.  Cassie's missing."

 

*******

 

A large, black iron kennel stood in front of Baron Stellos, Finneous, and the Puppetrix.  From inside, snarling and scratching could be heard, and three pairs of glowing red eyes regarded the trio from within.

"Finneous, release the hounds."


	8. Episode Eight:  Because We Must

"She's been gone all day.  She never came home from the park."  Auggie said as she, June, Faye, Senine, and Mr. Vember walked towards the place June had demolished not so long ago.  While it would not be picture perfect for a while, it was substantially more alive than it had been after June's explosion.  Augusta was wearing a lime green hoodie over a navy-blue shirt that left her midriff exposed, as well as exceedingly baggy bluejeans and white sneakers."I called her just a bit ago 'cause we were gonna hang out today, but her folks haven't seen her.  Neither have the twinlets."

"Twinlets?"  June asked.

"Identical twins run in Cassie's family.  Her mom's one, her dad's one, she's one, her two little sisters and two little brothers are twins too.  I call the two sets of little twins twinlets."  Auggie explained, speaking so fast she was almost intelligible.

"Wait, Cassie's a twin?  How have I only just now found this out?"  June asked.

"She went to Juvie, right?"  Faye chimed in.  "Gemma got into trouble.  I remember hearing when she was taken outta school."

Senine, Auggie, and Vember looked even more worried at the mention of the twin.  "No, Faye-Faye, she didn't go to Juvie.  She's locked up in the dungeon in that tower over Central Park.  And if somethin' bad happened to Cassie, Gemini Shumacher's pretty much the prime suspect."  The group was now moving through the park.

To June and Faye's questioning looks, Senine replied, "Siblings are weird when it comes to power stars.  If they both have them, they'll be related.  Like how Octavian has wind powers, and Auggie has lightning powers.  Twins're different.  They either have the same kind of powers, or they have diametrically opposing powers.  Cassie has life powers..."

"And Gemini has death powers."  June finished.  "Ouch.  So I'm guessing she didn't have the same respect for life that Cass has?"

"Gemini is the reason Cassiopeia has the reverence for life that she does, Miss Hespia."  Vember replied.  "Gemini...had delusions of godhood.  She realized she could decide who lived and who died, that mortality was hers to command.  She went mad with power, and had to be subdued."  He chuckled darkly.  "Cassiopeia was once something of a wild girl, you know...as wild as one can get before the age of twelve, at any rate.  She and her sister were regular hellions. Two peas in the proverbial pod.  Gemini's rampage changed that.  She grew more introverted, more respectful.  Away from Gemini."

"Yeah.  They have matching tattoos, you know.  Did them themselves with stolen needles and stuff.  But she'll kill me if I tell you where or what."  Auggie said with a smile that faded quickly.  "I hope she's still able to kill me."

Faye knelt down and held out her hand.  A squirrel hopped out of a tree on onto it.  She lifted her hand and chittered at it, and it chittered back and hopped off her hand.  "He said that there were three people here yesterday, deeper in, at someplace where a big boom happened.  He can't say more than that because he's a squirrel and he thinks we all look alike."

"I know where that is.  I should, I made the big boom."  June started to lead the way.  "Wait.  If she's locked up in the tower, how could she be here?  Did she escape?"

"It is...complicated."  Vember said.

"She's one of Solar City's Grim Reapers.  The call of a Reaper is stronger than any jail, so she can leave it by a spirit projection in order to lead people and animals more self aware than fish to wherever it is they go when they die."  Senine explained.

"Wait.  Grim Reapers are..what, people with stars with death powers?"  The underbrush was getting thicker as they moved through the forested park, all new growth.

"In layman's terms, I suppose you could say that, yes.  Though some appear to be something...different."  Vember replied, shooting Senine a somewhat annoyed look.

"Don't get mad at me just because you couldn't spout out some magibabble."  She replied nonchalantly.

"It's Cassie!"  Auggie suddenly called out, and then rushed to her best friend.  The green-haired girl was sitting slumped against an enormous tree, whose branches were drooping and bending almost protectively around her.

"Cass!  It's Auggie!"  Auggie shook her friend, and Cassie's eyes fluttered open.

"Auggie?  What's...where am I?"  Cassie looked around sleepily, seeing her glasses and picking them up.  She wiped them on her shirt before replacing them on her head..  "The last thing I remember is...I was going to rest against a tree for a while.  What time is it?"

"About three in the afternoon on saturday."  Auggie replied.  "You slept through the whole day.  You doin' okay?"

"I will be fine."  Cassie stood up.  "I feel much better and...did you say saturday?"

Auggie nodded.  Cassie groaned.  "My parents will eat me alive."

"Relax Mosstop, they'll probably just be happy you're okay."  Senine said.

"It was their date night last night.  I was supposed to watch the twinlets."  Cassie replied.

"Oh ouch, you got in the way of parent romance night."  June winced.

"You had us all worried, Cass."  Auggie said with a slight pout.  "I've told you not to go past your limits in stuff like this."

"Did you see anyone else out here, Cassiopeia?  According to an, ahem, squirrel, there were three people in the these woods."  Vember interjected.

"Only Gemi, and only I can see her when she's reaping, so I doubt she is who they are referring to.  Perhaps some hikers?"

"You sure she didn't do anything to you Cass?"  Auggie asked.  "You seem kinda dazed."

"She said her usual.  As for being dazed, I did recently expend a phenomenal amount of energy and sleep for about twenty-seven hours."  Cassie held her head and winced.  “Speaking of which, I could really use a snack.”

Senine fished around in her messenger bag and produced a couple granola bars and a bottle of water, which Cassie quickly downed.

"Glad you're okay, Cass.  Wouldn't be the same without my main chica."  Auggie said and then put a friendly arm around her friend.

And then June collapsed to her knees, holding her head in pain, a grimace etched across her features.  Faye was by her in an instant, crying, "Junie!"

"I...I feel something.  Something wrong." She said, standing slowly and turning to the concerned group around her.  "Hollow Hearts, downtown.  Three of them, I think. P-powerful."

"Alright, some action!  Badges on, girls."  Senine said, fishing hers out of her purse and sticking it on her shirt.

"I will take Faye back to the tower to get started on her training."  Vember said.  "You girls be careful."

"Always, Mr. V."  Auggie said with a smirk.

June waved at Faye as they left.  "Good luck Faye!"

Faye pouted.  "But I wanna help Junie."

Mr. Vember sighed and gave her a smile.  "I am sorry, Miss Burrey, but before I let you help the junior rangers, I am required to give you some tests and training, just to make sure you can control your powers."

"But what if they need me?"  Faye pleaded.

Vember chuckled.  "Don't worry.  Senine and the girls should be more than a match for the standard Hollow Heart."

 

***

 

"Something tells me this isn't just the standard Hollow Heart."  June said to herself as they made it on the scene.

There were no people to be seen.  The area was a small group of restaurants on campus of Solar City University, in what should have been a busy part of town, on a Saturday.  Normally, students flocked here for food and socializing.  Now, it was a ghost town.

The nearby cafe had been ravaged, one wall ripped down to the foundation.  Several nearby windows were also shattered.  There were still no signs of any people.

"I don't like this."  Auggie said.  She summoned her batons.

Cassie, meanwhile walked cautiously forward.  In the middle of the street, Gemini was kneeling and staring in shock and horror into the cafe.

"It's terrible, Cass.  It's so terrible."  She muttered.

Cassie's gaze followed Gemini's.  The color drained away from her face, and she dropped to her knees next to her sister.  "Oh my God."

"What, what's so...?"  Auggie walked up to them, looked, and then stared for a moment, to comprehend what she was seeing, and then threw up behind her.  Cautiously, June and Senine walked up with them.

The cafe was full of blood and bodies and broken parts of bodies.  Almost a dozen torn and shredded human bodies were piled up in there, battered and shredded and partially devoured.

"They left the bodies.  But they kept the souls, Cassie.  They kept the souls."  Gemini said in a bleak, horrified voice.

June walked towards the cafe, Senine beside her.

"You're not phased?"  Senine asked.  June shook her head.

"It's hard to phase me.  You?"

The older girl shook her head.  "I've seen worse."

From within the cafe, three shapes loomed--they were large and vaguely canine.  In the dark their shapes were masked by the glare of their collars.  Each had a brilliant collar that shone brightly with all the colors of the rainbow in twinkling starbursts.  Then they stepped into the light.

Each was the height of a full-grown man at shoulder, and looked to weigh over half a ton in sheer muscle mass.  They were dog-like creatures, one grey with a scar across its eye, one tan with heavily notched ears, and one red covered in a criss-cross of scar tissue.  Each dog-like beast  had long, wicked claws, massive jaws, and was covered in gore.  Their yellow eyes regarded the Stellar Rangers hungrily as the animals licked their chops.

"Girls.  Less blue screen, more action time."  Senine called back.  Cassie got to her feet, Dyna Scythe in hands.  Auggie wiped her mouth and stepped forward on shaky legs, summoning her Thunder Batons.  Umbra and Albedo were already in June's hands, and she was in a fighting stance next to Senine, who had her Pulsar Sledge at the ready.

The beasts growled and started to move out in a semi-circle.  Senine called out, "Don't let them surround us."  Cassie and Auggie started to fan out so as to prevent the Hounds from circling them.

When they saw this, the two would-be flankers turned and leapt up onto the roof of the cafe in a single bound.  The lead, the red one, meanwhile, rushed straight for Senine and June.  Senine met the Hound with her hammer, and June dodged to the side and slashed along the beast's flank.  Her blades bounced off, and Senine's hammer rebounded hard enough for her to be knocked back from the inertia.  The monster swatted the elder Ranger out of the way effortlessly, and turned towards June with a growl.

Up above, both of the remaining Hounds leapt from the roof.  Auggie hit one with a lightning bolt from her baton, but it did not phase the beast, and both of them landed on the other side of the Rangers.

The one going towards June started to lunge, but she suddenly flashed with bright light, causing the monster to whimper and stagger.  However, because she acted mostly on instinct, June did not shield her own light-sensitive eyes and staggered as well.

"They've taken too many stars."  Senine warned as she got back on her feet.  "Hammer of the Dying Star,"  She began to chant.  The tan one's ears perked, and it let out a roar, a blast of high-pressure wind escaping its mouth in the process.  This caused Senine to abort her chant and dodge the blast.

While it was distracted, Augusta's batons sparked heavily and let loose two more lightning bolts into the tan Hound.  It twitched slightly as the electricity passed through it, but showed no recognition of the attack aside from glaring at the short girl and bounding towards her.

The grey Hound, in the meanwhile, raised its paw and slammed it into the ground.  A crack opened in the street in front of it, right where Cassie was standing.  She rolled out of the way and grabbed seeds from in her pocket, throwing them at the ground beneath the scarred beast.  Fatal Flora, in the form of razor-sharp leaves, shot up from them, and simply glanced off the thick hide of the massive beast.  It seemed to grin, and started to advance.  Stellar Ranger Vital pointed her scythe at the seeds, and then, in addition to the bladed grass, vines erupted and entangled the Hound.

The grey monster pulled itself forward and uprooted the vines, shaking like a wet dog to throw them off.  Cassie backed up, scythe held at the ready.

The red Hound, meanwhile, had gotten its eyesight back.  June, still somewhat blinded, brought a globe of darkness around her as the beast pounced.  It skidded out the other side, missing her completely.  A sphere of condensed tidal variation slammed into its side--actually making the beast shudder, followed by the Pulsar Sledge right on its forehead, a leaping blow from Senine as hard as she could.  The monster reeled from that and  staggered backwards.  

June dropped the orb of darkness, a sphere of black energy in her left hand and a sphere of light energy in her right.  She hurled the light sphere at the tan Hound's face and a dark sphere at the grey one's.  Both impacted, and both made the creatures give a startled yelp.

"Go help the other two.  I got this one."  Senine said.  The red one shook its head and growled.  A small gout of flame escaped its snorting nostrils.

Meanwhile, the three junior rangers faced off against the grey and tan monsters.  Neither were terribly damaged, just a little startled by the sudden attacks from June.

"I don't know if we can do this, Junie."  Auggie said hesitantly.

"Can you keep them busy while I prepare the Brilliant Darkness Ev.?"  June asked.  The two monsters were pacing around the three girls as they backed up into a tight circle.

At the cafe, one of the tables outside went flying as the red one crashed into it and unleashed a large gout of flame at Senine, who rolled out of the way and let her hammer swing out wide, missing the red Hound.

"Yes, but you will be too drained to continue fighting after using it once."  Cassie replied.

"We have to try."  June replied.  "Ready?"

The grey Hound reared back, and the tan Hound took a deep breath.  Lightning crackled around Auggie's batons, and leaves began to swirl around Cassie as she pulled back her scythe.  They both nodded.

"Alright.  Let's hope this works."

 

*****

 

"Can you feel your star?"  Novias Vember asked, back in the training room in the tower.

Faye closed her eyes and concentrated.  She opened her eyes and shook her head.  "It's only faint, I don't feel much.  Am I doing it wrong?"  She pouted.

Mr. Vember smiled.  "No, dear.  You're simply trying too hard.  Your heart is part of you.  It will act on instinct, not by force.  Now, summon your weapon.  Every star has a weapon or pair of weapons tied to it.  Using them is second nature."

The blonde tried to concentrate, then stopped, looked at her hands, and remembered when she summoned them during her rampage.  The Feral Claws flashed into being.

"Very good.  Now, as far as other uses for your star, you seem to have talking to animals down.  Your shapeshifting, however, is your true strength, as is your formidable physical prowess."  Vember added.  "However, you do not have to turn completely into an animal every time you need to use a given creature's ability.  If you need wings, your heart should be able to simply let you grow wings, for example."

The cheerleader started to concentrate again, and then a scream echoed through the tower, coming from deep within, shaking Faye's will.

"VEEEEEMBEEEEEER!!!"  It cried.

"Gemini.  What on earth..."  Vember said.  The scream repeated itself.

"VEEEEEEEEMBEEEEEER!!"

Novias turned back to Faye.  "You keep training, dear.  I will go see what Miss Schumacher wants."

In the bowels of the tower, Novias Vember, Senior Stellar Ranger, Retired, stood in front of a massive wooden door, iron bars over a window in the center.  At this door was Gemini Schumacher, in the flesh, pounding on the door and screaming.

"Yes Miss Schumacher?  What can I do for you?"

"Cassie is going to die unless you help her."  Gemini’s eyes were completely serious.  "We have to do something."

"I assure you, she is fine.  Senine is with her, as are the other two Junior Rangers.  Now, if you'll excuse..."

"Damnit Vember!"  She interrupted.  "I know what's going on there.  The monsters Stellos or whoever sent down already have a massive body and heart total.  They're gonna start burning those hearts out soon in order to win.  But before they do that, that Nemesis chick is going to blow one of them up.  Then she's going to be powerless while her friends get slaughtered by a super-charged dog.  And, lastly, if that doesn't kill my sister, then when Penumbra manifests...not just her, but at least a mile radius around the albino girl's going up in smoke and fire."

Vember, who had previously been somewhat flippant, became stone-serious.  "You have seen this?"

"Yes.  I have.  I can feel the death incoming.  You need to either get down there right now, send me, or better yet, both."  Gemini insisted.  "They're both against regulations but as the only two people in this city that know exactly what the Penumbra can do, you know I'm right."

"I cannot let you go and you know that.  You are only allowed one day a year."  Vember replied.  "I must go."

"This is bigger than the time I eviscerated your foster daughter.  And every moment we spend talking about this means we have less time to get there."    Gemini insisted.  "Face it Vember.  We both know I could end that fight in a heartbeat.  I'm the biggest gun you've got that won't blow its user up too."

A small voice said from behind them, "I'll go."

Vember turned and saw Faye at the edge of the stairs that  lead into the dungeon.

"I can help my Junie.  I need to help if I can."  She pleaded.

"Oh hey, the cheerleader wants to try to play quarterback."  Gemi rolled her eyes.  "She can't get the job done and you're too old to help.  Let me free."

Vember paused for just a moment, eyeing Faye calculatedly.  "Alright.  Go, now.  You will need to get there quickly, and I think we both know how you can do that.  Good luck, Faye."  Novias tossed her a Stellar Ranger badge.

Faye caught it, put it on, and nodded, a determined look on her face as she ran off.

"Really.  She's not even a Junior Ranger and you're sending her after the strongest thing you and yours have faced since me."  Gemi sighed.  "Don't say I didn't warn you.  And don't think for a second Stellos is going to let up if you win.  He's going to throw stronger and more soldiers at you.  He's going to get more and more desperate.  Men like him aren't used to losing.  You're going to need to let me out sooner or later to help.  We both know it."

Vemer smiled a bit sadly.  "You underestimate all but yourself, Miss Schumacher.  As usual.  And..."  A look of realization crossed his face.  "Where did you hear the name Stellos?  How do you know June has the Heart of Nemesis?"

The twin grinned.  "I'll tell you if you let me out."

 

****

 

Senine's hammer flashed out and smashed into the side of the red Hound to no real effect.  It belched out a gout of flame that the Stellar Ranger effortlessly dodged.

Meanwhile, Auggie's batons glowed brightly with electricity, firing off bolts whenever either of the other two Hounds came near.  Sweat covered her brow, and her breathing was heavy, but the Hounds did not come terribly close, or stop to attack, as while they were not hurt terribly by Volt's lightning, it was still painful to them.  Cassie, in addition to swiping her scythe at any who got too close, was also feeding energy into Auggie so she could keep up her lightning barrage.  She was also showing signs of fatigue.

June's body was shrouding in darkness, a bright aura of light around it.  Her hands were open and crossed in front of her face.  "The Black Sun rages within me.  You now stand in its judgment."  She opened her eyes, bright pools of light now. "Face your guilt.  Brilliant..."  The darkness receded to her hands, black light consuming them, the aura of white light still surrounding them.  "Darkness..."  She chambered her hands at her side.  Her body glowed bright white, so bright it hurt all present's eyes, even the Hounds, who stopped pacing to grimace and whimper, electric sparks finding them and blasting them with energy.  June pointed at the tan Hound.  "Evolution!"

Light and darkness consumed them both.  When the flash cleared, the Hound had burned to ash, which blew away in the wind.  Its collar was intact, and the lights inside it blinked and faded.  The collar itself toppled to the ground, twisted in on itself and crumbled to dust.

 

Up in Stellos's castle, one of three lights illuminating an archway, bright and yellow, flickered and faded.

 

June collapsed to her knees, so weak she could no longer stand.  The grey Hound leapt away from the fight, snarling in surprise.  The red one howled and bounded to its remaining companion.  Senine grouped up with the others and steadied herself.

"Things are about to get hard. Get ready."  She instructed.

"'About' to get hard?"  Augusta asked, steadying herself.  Her batons were crackling, but nowhere near with the intensity the were.

The Hounds' collars began to glow even more brightly, and their muscles bulged and twisted.  The monsters each gained half as much height as the Hearts on their collars flickered and raged.  The tan one lifted up a paw and smashed it down.

A crevasse tore through the street.  Windows nearby shattered, and the four Rangers standing toppled to the ground, stumbling away from the massive rend in the earth it had caused.

June struggled to move, but instead got thrown away by the violent seismic attack, and was instead sent tumbling through the air and landing hard on nearby sidewalk.  The red Hound was already standing over her, flames and smoke trailing from its mouth as it took a deep breath.

A voice hit June then, and time seemed to slow for just a moment.  It was a voice from deep inside her, a voice from within her Star Heart.

__ _ “Release me." _

That voice, that moment, was just that, a moment, because before June could respond, something flew out of the sky and rammed the gigantic monster with enough force to knock it off its legs and tumble a few feet back. 

"Holy shit I think that's Faye."  Auggie swore.

Faye’s arms were a massive pair of eagle wings, and her Feral Claws were on the talons she now had as feet.  As she landed, the wings receded, and her feet turned to normal, the clothing repairing and her shoes replacing themselves in a flash.  Her claws vanished, and re-appeared on her hands.  Unlike normal, she had a very serious expression on her face.

"No one hurts my Junie."  She snarled.

The two Hounds regrouped.  The grey one raised a paw again.

Faye lifted her head to the sky and howled as she had before.

The Hounds faltered and whimpered, stumbling back and trying to cover their ears in their paws.  The Rangers, however, rather than hearing a horrible, oppressing sound, felt invigorated and enlivened by the howl, roused to new strength and action.

"All on Grey.  Go."  Senine ordered, and then charged a split second after.

Grey started to shake itself out of the stupor when huge, thorny vines erupted from the ground and entangled it, digging deep enough to pierce its thickened hide.  Cassie, Scythe in the ground, looked haggard and worn but concentrated deeply on maintaining the hold.  Auggie's batons smashed down on either side of its neck and discharged as much energy as they could, which stunned it long enough that it could not shake off the snare.

"Hammer of the Dying Star."  Senine began, chanting as she approached the beast, the Pulsar Sledge's purple head glowing black.  "Grant me the power to destroy my enemies."  The Red Hound had noticed its comrade being attacked and shook off the howl, bounding to intercept Senine, but Faye, stronger and faster than she should have been by any rights, took her claws and slashed the Hound's face, cutting so deep that blood erupted from its wounds.  The monster whined and broke its charge.

"Dead Star Smash!"  Senine called out, and smashed down the Sledge hard on the Grey Hound's head.  In a sickening crunch, the skull gave way, and the Hound slumped back and fell to the ground.  The Star Hearts on its collar burned hot in that instant, and set its body aflame in rainbow-colored fire, burning it to ash.

 

At that same archway, a purple Heart flickered and died.  And then the Red star, in the center, began to burn hot.

 

Senine began to say, "Now Red!"  But a massive fireball stopped her before she could finish 'Now'.

The blast consumed the whole street, knocking the Stellar Rangers away like toys.  Auggie was sent into a car, Senine into a lamp post, and Cassie was wrenched away from her planted Scythe and into a nearby bench.

Faye stood her ground.  It was shaky ground, but she stood it nonetheless.

The Red monster stood in the center of what had been the fireball.  The street around it was glowing red from its footfalls, and its whole body glowed brightly, especially the scars.  It was now half again larger on top of the previous increase, and its muscles bulged and spasmed randomly.

"Why are you doing this?  Why are you hurting people?"  Faye asked.

It replied in animal-speak, which only Faye understood.  "Our master let us hunt.  Let us eat and kill whatever we desired, so long as we brought it what could not be eaten.  My packmates and I had grown strong and tall for him.  And I will devour you and bring back your inedible heart as my final act of loyalty to him."

Faye charged it.  The beast lifted a glowing paw and smashed her hard.  The blow would have broken any of the other Rangers.  Faye was knocked back, burns on her forearms from blocking it, but otherwise unharmed.

"You cannot defeat me."  Red snarled.

"I have to try.  For Junie."  Faye replied.

And then both heard the mumbled voice behind them, and saw a bright flash of light.

"You stand in its judgment.  Brilliant Darkness Evolution."

A bright flash of light and dark consumed Red.  When it faded, half of its face, its right shoulder and foreleg, and all the fur and skin on its right side had been blasted away, exposing charred skull underneath.

June stumbled forward, beside Faye.  Her left hand was smoking and slightly burnt.

"Junie!  You shouldn't..."  Faye began.  June smiled weakly, and then steadied herself on her maybe sort of girlfriend.

"I have to."  She replied.

Red limped forward, snarling in wordless--even in animal-speak--rage and pain.  It opened its mouth, and would have sent a cascade of flame over the Rangers, if a massive hammer had not smashed it in its bottom jaw with the force of the Dead Star.  Red's jaw was undeniably broken, and fire gushed out in all directions, but it did not stop.  It tried to shoulder-charge the battered Senine that had crushed its jaw, but the teen easily got out of the way.

The wounded, broken Hound could not attack.  It could not breath fire.  It was too heavy to lift itself into any sort of pounce, not without a leg.

Instead, it began to glow brighter.  And brighter.

"It's going to blow."  Senine warned, backing away.

Faye's wings sprang back into being, and she hopped back with June, wrapping them around her and hoping for the best.

And then it exploded in a massive ball of fire, that was completely stopped by a tight ring of interlocked trees.  The blast was funneled straight up, a column of flame that extended hundreds of feet above the city.  But it did not lessen.  The flames burned through the trees faster than Cassie, also battered and standing, hand on her still-planted Scythe, could keep up.  The fires shot out towards the green-haired girl specifically.

Out of nowhere, a blue blur snatched her from the blast.  Auggie went about half a block before dropping Cassie and stumbling and rolling to a stop.

Senine banished her hammer and stepped in front of June and Faye.  She had a mass of black in between her wrists, her arms parallel to each other horizontally.  "Twisted Spiral!"  She called, and pulled her elbows out.  The mass of black began to spin, and Senine put her hands around the edges of it, just barely not touching it.  The spin became a vortex, and then all of the fire, and small bits of rubble, and a whole lot of air was sucked towards her, all into the vortex.  Stellar Ranger Void concentrated as hard as she could.  The vortex surged more than once, but she kept it in check, kept it from growing and expanding, until all of the fire was gone.

In front of them, in a ring of molten street, surrounded by charcoal stumps, was no sign the monster had ever existed, save for a blackened collar and some ash, the collar melting slowly into slag, all hearts gone from it.

 

The archway was blasted and charred, and the red heart was completely burned away.

 

The last thing June remembered seeing before she blacked out was Faye's sweet face, asking if she was alright.

 

*****

"How can we do that again?"  Cassie said softly, back in the Tower.  They were in the infirmary--a mostly empty room with a tray of bandages and magic remedies and a dozen beds.  June was out cold on one of them, and Faye was sitting on it next to her, watching her with an intense amount of concern.  Cassie was sitting with her knees against her chest on the bed next to them, and Auggie was trying to comfort her.  Senine, however, scoffed from the wall she was leaning against.

"We're going to do it again because we have to."  She replied.  "There's no ifs or buts to it.  We're the only ones who can."

"Vember could help us!"  Auggie interjected.  "We nearly died today!"

"There're rules or something keeping him from helping."  Faye said weakly.  Her gaze did not leave June.

"Right."  Senine replied, giving Faye a brief, curious look.  "He can't.  It's up to us."

"So many people died."  Cassie murmured.  "How can he order something like that?"

"How are we supposed to fight that?  What if next time there're four big evil dogs?  What if they all start out by burnin' themselves out?"  The blue-haired girl asked.  "We can't do this.  We just can't.  We're not even in high school."

"We do it because we have to."  Came June's weak voice.  Her eyes were not open, and her left hand was heavily bandaged.  "If Mr. Vember can't help then he can't help.  But we can do it."  June’s red eyes then opened, and she looked over at her friends.  "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.  Every attack he throws against us, we're going to defend better.  And we'll beat him.  Because we have to.  Because whether they know it or not, they're counting on us.  And we're counting on each other.  Because I know we can.  I can trust all of you.  And you all can trust me."

Senine smiled--not smirked, but smiled.  "You got it exactly."

"That cannot happen again.  We cannot let it."  Cassie affirmed.

Faye stared down at June.  "You need someone to keep you from getting hurt, Junie."

Auggie said nothing, but stared down at her hands.

*****

 

Novias Vember sat at his desk with his eyes gazing at the ceiling.

"We were far, far too lucky today for me to be comfortable with our chances."  He muttered to himself.  The elder Ranger stared out into Stellar City.  "And I fear, Miss Hespia, that luck will not be enough, and I pray that something will be..  That you do not end up as Lori did."  He then pressed a button on the intercom on his desk.  "Leah dear, send Miss Burrey in."

"Sure thing, Dad.  I'm off to my date after."  The speaker responded.

"Be sure to have him home early.  I doubt his sister will want him up so late with his injuries."  Vember said with fond smile that eased in from his previous worried frown.

The door opened and Faye entered.  Like the other Stellar Rangers, her wounds--which were largely bruises and light burns--had been magically healed.  Only June had had any lasting effect from the battle--and it was certainly not an injury.

"Ah, Miss Burrey.  Please, sit."  He motioned to the chairs in front of his desk.

"..am I in trouble Mr. Vember?"  Faye asked hesitantly.

"Not at all, dear, not at all."  He said with a smile.  He got up and paced by his windows.  "Well, you probably wish to get back to Miss Hespia, and I see no reason to hold you from that for long, so I shall get to the point.  How much of my conversation with Gemini did you hear?"

` "Uh, I think all of it.  Why?  Was I not suppose to hear it?"  There was an wince in her voice, as though she was flinching away from punishment that had not yet come.

He smiled warmly at her.  "I never told you as much, dear.   It would be silly of me to punish you for doing something you did not know you should not do.  However...you cannot tell anyone what you heard.  Do you understand?  Not a word.  Not even to June, not even to Senine."

Faye nodded hesitantly.  "Okay.  I won't say anything, I promise."

"Good.  Now, hurry to June.  I am sure she could use your support."  He patted her on the shoulder.  Faye smiled and moved to the door.

She stopped there and turned around.  "Mr. Vember...does that mark on June's hand have anything to do with what you were talking about."

Vember turned away from Faye.  She immediately paled and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I should'nt've asked that I'll go now!"

She had her hand on the knob when the elder Ranger replied, "Yes, Faye.  Yes it does.  I should not tell you this, and you should not tell June this, however...June is fated to have a hard life.  A difficult life.  I know you are just barely a teen.  You do not know what you want yet, even if you are sure you do.  But know that if you and Miss Hespia are meant to be, then you will have to accompany her through a path...a path laden with despair, and one you will, by proximity, experience."

"...I know I'm just a little kid.  But I want Junie to be happy.  I'll do everything I can to make sure she'll be happy, even if life for her is bad, I'll make her happy.  I'll be her rock if she needs me to."  Faye said, and then left the room.

"For both your sakes, my dear."  Vember began, slumping back in his chair.  "I hope you do."

 


	9. Episode Nine:  Metal Heart

"My Hounds were slain nearly a week ago.  You told me you could have this girl attack the Stellar Rangers by now, Puppetrix.  My patience is not infinite."  Baron Stellos warned.

"I will be ready soon, my lord.  The emotions I need from this girl are more complicated than simply unleashing her animal side.  By necessity I needed to know her thoroughly.  Today, I can finally begin to pull the strings."

 

*****

 

"God Amber, don't be so selfish.  We could really use your help."  Auggie pestered.  She, Faye, Cassie, and June were around Amber's locker as the cheerleader was getting ready for class.  As there was a game later today, Amber and Faye were both in their uniforms.

"Like, I already told you losers I don't want part of your little super hero club."  Amber replied with an eyeroll.  "Now, like, let me get to class?  It’s, like, why we’re at school?"

Faye and Cassie backed away to let her pass, but Auggie pressed the issue.  "Think about someone besides yourself for just a minute, will ya?"  She stepped forward and put a hand on Amber's shoulder.  "I mean, you can help people and learn how to use your powers at the same time."

"Why don't you take your own advice?"  Amber spat venomously as she turned, knocking Auggie's hand away.  "The only reason you, like, want me to help?  It's because you need me.  You're pretty terrible at hiding it.  I don't want this.  I want to be normal and me being normal's wearing away every second I spend around you freaks."  She spun back around, bag on her shoulder, and started down the hall again.

"Why you..."  Augusta began, sparking very slightly.  June said, resigned, from behind her, "Let Amber go, Auggie.  She's made her choice and we can't force it on her."  June's hand was no longer bandaged, but there was now a circle of thin, black points around a circle of her white skin, forming a white-in black sun shape.

"She's such a bitch.  We're better off without her."  Auggie muttered.

"She's really not so bad.  I mean, she just wants to be normal."  Faye replied.  "But I'm not sure she knows what normal is.  Or why she wants to be it."

"How can you always defend her?  She's been worse to you than she's been to any of us."  Auggie countered.

"Because I can tell she doesn't mean it, not really."  Faye said.  She added in a hopeful tone, "Maybe when she thinks about it a bit more she'll come around."

"Maybe we should pick a different topic."  June interjected.

"Like your tattoo?"  Auggie looked down at June’s hand.  “Like, what the heck is that even about?”

"You should let me examine it, you know."  Cassie offered.  "Perhaps I could see why your star branded you as it did."

"Mr. Vember said it was nothing, just a side effect of using the Brilliant Darkness Evolution too much."  June said.  "I'm fine."

"I dunno Junie.  I think Vember's a bit shady on this.  I think he knows more than he says."  Auggie added.

"I agree."  Cassie continued.  "He seems to handwave any questions about Nemesis."  The group was walking to class.  No one noticed the slightly panicked look on Faye's face at this topic.

"Well..."  June, said, recalling the previous week.  "That puppet girl said something about me not being told everything he knows about my star heart."

"I don't think so!"  Faye blurted out.

Everyone turned and looked at her.  Faye's expression was like a deer in headlights.  "Well, I mean, Mr. Vember's been nice to me so I don't think he'd hide something important from you.  He seems like a nice man.  And..Um...."  She looked around in a panic for a moment.

"I have to go somewhere else now class is soon bye!"  She said quickly and then dashed off.

"What."  June said after a moment.  "Was that?"

"You don't think Faye-Faye knows something, do you?"  Auggie suggested.  They all looked at each other for a moment.

"If she does, I suggest none of us ever tell her a secret."  Cassie said as they walked into class.  "Ever."

"Definitely."  The other two said simultaneously.

 

*****

 

Faye swore at the mirror in the girls' room.  "Aw man, it's been a day and I've already messed up. I couldn't keep a secret if my life depended on it."

"Couldn't keep what secret, hon?"

Faye jumped and turned, and saw Lynneth smiling at her.

"Oh, uh, hey Lynneth.  It's nothing, honest."  Faye lied.  Poorly.

"Oh, come on, sweetie." The older girl said softly, snapping her fingers.  "You can tell me."

They locked eyes, and suddenly Faye's expression went blank, her eyes glassy.  "I can tell you.  You are my best friend."

"Good girl."  Lynneth's blue eyes flashed.  "Now, what secret is this?"

"I heard Mr. Vember talking with Gemma about something about Junie and some other thing.  A Penumbra."  Faye replied mechanically.

Lynneth trailed a hand down Faye's cheek, a cold smirk on her face.  "Did they say anything about it, sweetie?"

Faye shook her head.  "Only that it was real destructive."

"Alright.  I'm going to help you keep your secret, because I'm your best friend and only have your best interests in mind.  Isn't that right?"  The most popular girl in school asked.

The blonde girl nodded vacantly.

"You're going to forget that the Penumbra is destructive.  If reminded by Vember, you'll remember.  Did you freak out when you accidentally let slip that you knew something?"

Again, Faye nodded vacantly.  Lynneth brushed her cheek again, her fingernails long and black now.

"I may need damage control on Cassie too."  Lynneth mused.  "Oh well.  If asked about it, you're going to say that Vember promised you it was not anything serious, but you promised not to tell.  Say that he said that 'Some things cannot be taught--they need to be experienced and discovered on one's own.'"  

"Yes Lynneth."  Faye said, once again mechanically.

"Good girl."  The head cheerleader pulled her hand away, her nails normal length again.  "When I snap my fingers, you'll snap out of this, and forget you mentioned anything about the secret to me.  You'll feel better about yourself and more confident, too.  You'll be your normal, cheerful self, and you'll have me to thank.  In fact, gush about me to your friends, too.  The trigger command remains the same."

"Yes Lynneth."

The girl paused.  "One more thing.  If the words Vran Sie or 'star vampire' are used in a manner that accuses me of being one, you will be adamantly opposed to the idea that I could be one.  Because I treat you so well.  I am your best friend, after all."

"Yes Lynneth."

"Good girl."  Lynneth Ursula Card, also known as Lanessa de Vran Sie, snapped her fingers.  She immediately assumed a warm smile, reciprocated by Faye's sudden, cheerful grin.

"Feel better?"

"A lot, thanks so much Lynnie."  Faye said brightly.  She saw the clock in the bathroom, and her face paled.  "Oh wow I need to get to class!  Thanks again!"  The girl rushed out of the room as fast as she could.

"Don't worry, Faye."  Lynneth said with a predatory smirk after the naive girl was gone.  "The pleasure was all mine."

 

*****

 

At lunch, Amber sat with Valerie and Bethany, her 'friends'.  They were cheerleaders as well, and bullies, and Amber was the alpha bitch of the trio.  That was how she had liked it.

Today, she found their vapid and uninteresting talk about boys and bigotry even more vapid and uninteresting than normal.  She tried to keep up, offer her opinion, but her eyes kept going to the table Faye was at.  It had June--the albino girl Faye seemed to like, Augusta, and Cassiopeia.

Valerie and Bethany were with Amber because they liked feeling better than other people.  They enjoyed putting people, like those at the so-called "freak table" down. At first, Amber liked it too.  But now, it felt so empty.

Faye, for whatever reason, saw good in Amber.  Faye was actually concerned with what Amber wanted, what Amber felt.  The redhead wondered if that was what a real friend felt like.

"...oh wow, look over at the freak table."  Valerie said with cruel amusement in her voice.

Amber glanced over, and saw Faye's head on June's shoulder, and the white-skinned girl blushing bright red.  Then Auggie seemed to say something with a sly smirk on her face, causing June to blush even more furiously, and Faye to look up at her questioningly.  Then Auggie said something else with the same sly expression, until Cassie said something with a completely deadpan expression that had the blue haired girl blushing and shouting, and then cracking up laughing with the rest of them.

"God, don't they know they're in public?"  Bethany scoffed.

"For sure."  Valerie agreed.

"Like, can you believe them?"  Amber said.  Her heart was not in it, though.  She wondered briefly where it was at all.

 

******

 

After school, the girls were getting ready for the game.  Amber was doing makeup in the mirror with Valerie when Lynneth walked up to them.  The older girl gave a brief glance at Valerie, which had enough force of personality behind it that Valerie quickly packed up her cosmetics and scampered away as if her social life depended on it.

"So.  Faye tells me she wants you to be co-captain with her."  She said, eyeing the girl carefully.

"Yeah.  Like, so?"  Amber asked, on the defensive.  "It was, like, her call."

"Does this have anything to do with why she was crying last week?"  Lynneth continued.  

A massive pang of guilt flared in Amber.  "...look.  I was, like, mad and I took it out on her.  She, like, forgave me?  She suggested the co-captain thing!  It, like, wasn't my idea."  She said dismissively.  "Whatever, it's not, like,  that important to me anyway."

"...actually, I was impressed that your ego would let you share anything."  The black-haired teen replied.  "I just wanted to make sure you knew she had this idea.  Faye can be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes."

Amber said nothing, and applied her lipstick.

They were alone in the room, now.  Lynneth hopped up on and sat on the counter next to Amber.  "She's right, isn't she?  There is a good person under there somewhere."

Amber put her lipstick and the rest away.  "You, like, finished?"

"I guess I am."  The most popular girl in school replied, giving Amber a calculated look as she hopped down and straightened her skirt.  "Just remember, Amber.  No matter who or what you are, no one can run from themselves forever.  Someday, you're going to have to own up to who you really are.  Sorry about making fun of your speech impediment, if that’s what that is, by the way."

Lynneth left then, and Amber stared at herself in the mirror, a tear running down her cheek.

"Poor Amber."  A voice behind her said.  Amber spun quickly, wiping the tear away. The source was a somewhat nondescript read-headed girl in a cheerleading uniform.  "Alone in a school full of people."

"Who are you?"  Amber replied, instantly suspicious.  "Like, how do you know my name?"

There was something wrong with how the girl moved.  Something off, something unnatural that filled every motion, every step.

"I know everything about you, Amber.  Your Star Heart draws power from a star that grants power over metal.  You have two faces."  The girl held up two drama masks.  The first's face was a snide grin, and the second's was a forlorn frown.  "You show everyone the princess.  You need no one, and you are greater than everyone.  You rule from an ivory tower, your only companions those as lofty as you.  However,"  She held the forlorn mask higher.  "Your true face is the one that finds the tower dark and lonely.  You do not want yes-women.  You want real friends.  Real companions.  A chance to be yourself."

The redhead tried to back up, and hit the counter.  Nearby pipes began to rattle in her panic.  "Go away."

"You were blissfully unaware of your true face,"  The strange girl produced a third mask, along with a third arm.  This mask had a cheerful expression on it.  "Until a broken, naive little girl showed you concern and kindness.  She started the path.  She made you realize who you really are.  It was her attack that caused your powers to awaken, after all."

"...you did that."  Amber said with a sudden realization.

"She did that.  I simply pulled the right strings."  The other girl now had four arms.  The fourth had a black and white spotted tophat, which she placed on her head.  "This will be easier for both of us if you simply relent."

Amber bolted for the door.  The four-armed girl was on her in an instant, and seized a string that was not there with her free hand.  Amber seized up, as if turned to solid stone on the spot.  The masks vanished in puffs of smoke, and her other three hands snatched more invisible strings and began to loop them rapidly around Amber's wrists, fingers, legs, elbows, knees, and feet.  The final string went under her chin, and the puppet then stepped back, an empty, proud smile on its face.

The Puppetrix gestured, and Amber turned to face the puppet.  Still holding the string that kept her still, the puppet reached out and tapped Amber on the chest, at her heart.  A dark red glow filled the room for a moment before fading, and Amber, even frozen, cried out in pain as her Heart, only just beginning to awaken in the past week, was forced wide, and fully, awake.

 

*****

 

"Where the hell is Amber?"  Valerie asked in an affronted tone.  The squad was out in the football field, and the game was only a few minutes from starting.  Lynneth sighed.

"I think this is my fault."  She started towards the school.

"I can go talk to her, if you want."  Faye interjected.  Lynneth nodded.

"Alright, but get back soon."  The captain replied.  Faye smiled widely and nodded, and then ran towards the girls' locker room.

She pushed open the outside door and called out, "Hey Amber, you okay in here?"  All the lights were off.  She flicked the switch, but nothing happened.  Bright lights filtering in from high, frosted windows from the football field were the only illumination

There was no answer, so Faye walked inside and called out again.  "We're ready to go soon.  I can tell Lynneth you can't make it if you want."

"I was, like, fine before you came along."  Amber's voice said coldly.  Faye turned towards the sound of the voice.

"Do you need me to go away?  I can leave I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"I need to have, like, never met you."  She growled.  Faye's ears perked as she heard a clicking noise.

"...I'm sorry.  I really am.  I'll just leave you alone."  The normally perky girl's face fell, and she started out of the room.

Something screamed out for her to dodge, right at that moment. A bright flash and then loud  _ boom _ and a  _ clang  _ rocked through the locker room, Faye having dodged just in time to avoid being shot.

The lights flickered on.  Amber knelt at the other end of the room.  In her arms was an antique, long rifle, taller than she was, made of gold-colored metal, red inlaid into it.  The stock was made of some red wood, carved to match the smoke-wisp design that the red inlay had.  At the end of the rifle was a wickedly serrated bayonet.  Amber pulled the lever on the bottom forward, and then snapped it back.

"I'm going, like, to make sure you never bother me again."

 

*****

 

"So, why are we here?"  Cassie asked dismally as the football game started.

"We're here to support Faye-Faye."  Auggie replied.  "You know she loves it when we show up."

"We're also here to throw things at my brother if it looks like he's going to hurt himself."  June added.  Her brother, and Leah Vember, were sitting by the bench.  Julius was watching his team with all his enthusiasm, even though the game was barely underway.

"I'd love to make him hurt himself."  The blue-haired girl said smarmily.

"Oh god.  Cassie, help me out here.  Say sexual things about Auggie's brother."  June pleaded.

"I would, and I would enjoy gushing about him, but, unfortunately, it would not phase Augusta."  Cassie said with a smile.  "My beloved has long since deadened Auggie's ability to be shocked by him."

"It's true.  First time I saw him in a dress--and mistook him for some other girl--yeah, sorry Junie."  Auggie said, giving the white-haired girl a pat on the back.

"...okay, what now?"  June asked.  "He's a transvestite?"

"Not exactly.  Octavian is both a dedicated Shakespearean actor and also genderfluid."  Cassie replied.  "And so dashing.  He's like a Dumas hero brought to life."

"Who?"

"Guy who wrote Three Musketeers."  Auggie replied.  "Hey, where's Faye-Faye?  Or Amber for that matter?"

"I don't..."  June paused.  She did not feel unbearable pain, as Hollow Hearts sometimes gave her, but something was definitely off.  "...I think they're in trouble.  Both of them."

"Hollow Heart?"  Cassie asked.  The trio made their way off the stands.

"I don't know.  But something's wrong."  June said.  She paused by Leah and said, "Hey, if it looks like he's going to hurt his cast or pull some stitches, throw a rock at him."

Julius was too absorbed in the game to notice this interaction.  Leah Vember smiled and nodded.  "You got it."

The trio then started towards the girls' locker room.  "Someday, Junie, I want you to sense when things are goin' right."

"Oh, trust me."  June replied.  "Me too."

And then they heard the bang.

 

*****

 

 

Faye could actually see the effect the shot had this time around.  A locker behind her seemed to implode of its own accord by the force of the slug. She had dodged mostly on instinct.

Amber coldly triggered the lever action again.  "You, like, made me realize what I was missing.  I never realized how lonely I was until you.  I never realized I was such, like, a freak until you."  She fired another shot, and another locker was demolished.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, please!"  Faye 's shirt and skin underneath had a small cut from where this bullet had passed too close.

""Oh, I didn't mean to, please don't hurt me.'"  Amber taunted.  "You, like, see my Adamant Rifle?  Using just it I have you, like, on the ropes.  I haven't even started using my magic yet."  She grinned an unnaturally wide grin.  "If I'd, like, known this would be this much fun?  I would have given in a while ago.  How does it, like, feel to know that your death is going to be caused by the very magic you helped, like, wake up?"

Faye summoned her claws.  "I wasn't using any magic 'cause I didn't wanna hurt you.  But if I have to, then I guess I'll try to knock you out or something.  Sorry if I hurt you."

"Are you, like, some kind of idiot?"  Amber lifted her hand and then backhanded the air fiercely.  Faye was picked up by her partially metal claws and flung into the lockers behind her with a loud crash.  "I rule metal.  Not, like, just your weapons--you're surrounded by my element.  What're you gonna do--attack me with cockroaches?"

"Actually, Amber, she's probably going to beat the tar out of you while we hold you down."  June said, she, Auggie, and Cassi stepping into the somewhat trashed locker room.

"Oh look, it's the, like, freak squad."  Amber said with a twisted smirk.  "Just in time for me to kill all of you losers at once."

"Okay, this is twisted even for Bitch Queen."  Auggie said, helping up Faye, who banished her claws.

"It's that puppet thing."  June said.  "It feels the same as what happened with Faye, only moreso."

"She opened my eyes."  Amber replied, rifle slowly shifting from Stellar Ranger to Stellar Ranger.  "Took away all the restraint that was in my way.  Once I get rid of Faye and you losers, I can, like, finally go back to being normal.  Oh, and I wouldn't try to appeal to, like, my inner loser?  The Puppetrix did, like, a much more thorough job with me than she did with dog girl.  All my inner loser is locked away, never to return again.  And on that note, Iron Maiden."  The cheerleader raised her rifle over her head with both hands, and then brought it down.

Cassie's eyes widened in that split second and reached for her pocket.

All the lockers, all of the pipes above and under the tiled floor, every bit of metal that was not the Adamant Rifle erupted towards the Junior Rangers, taking the shapes of massive barbed spikes in the process.

A ring of small trees stood around the Rangers, now shattered and peppered with spikes.  Cassie stood in the middle of them, arms outstretched and eyes closed as the trees feebly grew and pushed back against the pressing metal doom.  The four girls were pressed close together, with barely any room to move.

"Fish in a barrel.  Totally easy."  Amber stopped actively pressing the attack--though the spikes remained--and pointed her rifle square at Cassiopeia.  "I  shoot you, your pathetic little barrier fades away.  But, like, if I've learned anything, it's that it's always better to be cruel."  Her bayonet opened like a fan into three separate, identical blades.  "This is what you get for making me want to be a freak.  But you never had a chance when you're, like, surrounded by all this metal.."

The three blades fired off, dragging a chain behind them.  They swerved and moved in midair, curving towards Faye, who was too crowded by metal and trees to dodge. The first to reach the tangle of metal and wood was blasted out of the sky by a blast of light.  The second shot from the side and was blasted by dark.  However, the third shot through the smoke at an angle June, in the tangle, could not hit, and was inches from Faye when Augusta grabbed the chain and held the weapon back.

"You like to talk about your element?  Well here's mine, bitch."  She said, and sent electricity through the chain, and into Amber.  She twitched and convulsed until the electricity was stopped, and she was sent flying back, releasing the rifle, which, along with the chains and blades, faded as she struck the back wall, now stripped of lockers, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Without Amber concentrating on the spikes, Cassie's trees and some of Faye's brute force managed to push the tangle of spikes out enough that the Junior Rangers could squeeze out.  Cassie, feeling a little lightheaded, stumbled slightly on her way to Amber's still form, checking her magically for a few moments.  June rubbed the back of her left hand unconsciously.  The white-in-black sun was glowing.

"She is alive, but she will be out for a while. We may be able to remove her string in that..."  The green-haired girl winced suddenly, her outstretched hand being hit with a crackle of red energy that, for a moment, made all of the strings visible.

They trailed in from nowhere, but beneath the massive volume of them, Amber was barely visible.  Then, they flickered back into invisibility.  June was now actively scratching her mark.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"  Came the Puppetrix's voice, and she appeared--or, rather, the puppet she had used to manipulate Amber appeared.  "One of my better works. Everything 'good' in her is gone.  Only bitterness and hatred remains.  Every piece of her intricately balanced so that only the darkness in her heart comes to the surface.  One revelation, a few words to shock her back...maybe, maybe you could reset one string.  But all of them?  No, of course not.  And with her heart artificially wakened to high above the level the four of you are at...she is a threat.  She will always be a threat.  Removing strings will simply make her a less stable one.  You cannot fix her."

"Change her back!"  Faye threatened, claws summoned.  She grabbed the puppet by the collar and pulled back her claw.  "Do it now!"

"I think not.  You cannot threaten me, feral child.  I am a pawn, a puppet.  One of the numberless toys of the Mistress of Marionettes, the Princess of Puppets, the Puppetrix." 

"If Amber's your secret weapon, hate to disappoint, but we cleaned her clock when we all worked together.  Even if you wake her up, we'll just knock her down again." Auggie replied.  "And while we can't help her, Old Man Vember definitely can."  June felt her hand burning, and looked down at it.

"Too true.  But my point was not to have the metal girl kill you.  Just make her a threat.  After all, when she wakes up again, which will be soon, she will put all of her considerable and versatile power into killing Faye."  The puppet turned its head, but not its neck, towards June, who was staring in shock at the black and white swirling glow now covering her hand.  "You overused your big attack, did you not?  And now your heart has marked you.  And soon we will all see its true potential.  The secret that Nemesis hides inside."

"W-what's going on!  What did you do to me?!"  June asked, stepping forward, but then grimacing in pain, the swirling glow traveling to her elbow.

The puppet smirked.  "I have set the stage."  Faye, and the rest, were distracted by June's outburst, and the puppet pulled a string that was not there.  Suddenly, Amber jerked awake and, with a shove, knocked Cassie away as she stood, summoning her rifle again.  The puppet disappeared, and reappeared behind June.

"Don't you see?  Amber and Faye were never my real targets."  The puppet seized a string from June and pulled it hard.  June convulsed and twisted, screaming in pain as the red-headed doll looped it around both of Stellar Ranger Dark Star's shoulders.  "I have simply been biding my time until this makes an appearance."

Faye rushed towards June, but a bullet slammed into her shoulder as she rushed, ripping through her and tossing the blonde Junior Ranger to the ground.  Cassie started towards the injured Faye, but the nearby metal reformed into chains and latched around her, binding her solidly with a snap of Amber's fingers and the phrase, "Manacle Bind."

The puppet looped a strand around June's forehead and tied it into a bow behind her head.  June's eyes were glowing bright white, and her entire arm was covered in swirling energy.  She cried out and sobbed in pain.

Augusta shot a lightning bolt at Amber--however, the metal hearted girl was ready this time, and met it with a pipe-turned-lightning rod.  A second set of manacles shot out at the lightning-hearted girl, chaining her to the wall.

Faye was heavily bleeding, but still managed to struggle to her feet.  She lifted a hand towards June, when she heard the clicking of the Adamant Rifle's lever directly behind her head.

"Sorry Faye.  No one to save you."

"No one to save any of you."  The puppet said solemnly, and a bright flash of light knocked all of them save June and the puppet back into the walls of the locker room, and knocked several holes in the ceiling and walls of the room itself.

When the smoke cleared, June was hovering in front of the puppet.  Her left half glowed white, her eye burning with black fire, and her right was the opposite.  Her hair had broken its braid and now flowed and shifted in a spray of black and white fire behind her.

"Behold, the ultimate and raw power of the Penumbra."  The puppet said passionlessly.  "Behold, your deaths."


	10. Episode Ten:  The Shadow's Shadow

Senine was in the kitchen, drinking milk from the carton, when Novias Vember entered the room, a disapproving frown etched into his face.

"Brunhilde Hildegarde Nokturne!  We put the milk in a glass before we drink it in this house."  He said sternly.  

"I have no idea how you do it, but I can tell when you put the K in my last name."  Senine sighed as she pulled a glass from the cabinet in the fairly spacious, extremely well kept kitchen.  She filled it and took a sip.  "Happy now, old timer?"

Vember rolled his eyes.  "You do these things just to vex me, young woman."

"Guilty as charged.  Hey, Vember, can I head out with Jordy and Hal and Willie?"  She asked.

"As long as you are back by midnight."  Vember replied.

"Oh, come on!  It's a Friday!"  Senine said with a wide hand gesture that nearly spilled her milk.

"You stay out until midnight every night, young lady.  I have been very lax with you. However, the Junior Rangers need training and you are the best one for the job.  Plus, it would be good for you to spend more time with Faye anyway.  She could use a big sister."  

"Why can't Leah be the big sister?  She's your real daughter.  Faye and I are just the fake daughters because our parents collectively suck majorly." Senine drank the rest of the milk.

"Senine....you know Leah and I both care about you as if you were family, and as for Faye, you two already seem thick as thieves."  Vember smiled, and put a comforting hand on Senine's shoulder.  Senine pulled away.

"Yeah, yeah, I get the point.  I promise I won't stay out after midnight."  She sighed dramatically.  "This whole family love thing really screws with my street cred, though."

"You will endure somehow, I am sure."  Vember replied dryly.  Then he stopped mid stride.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, round object not unlike a pocket watch that was flashing with white and black symbols.  "Oh, no."

"Hey.  Hey old man."  Senine put down her glass and stepped towards her legal guardian.  "What's wrong?"

"The Penumbra.  It's activated."  He turned back to her.  "We must get to June, immediately."

"You can't!  I'll go alone.  It's against the rules for you to go."  Senine countered.  Novias shook his head and began a scrying spell.

"The Penumbra is bigger than that.  We must stop it at all cost.  Damn the Rangers if they has any objections."  Vember said, tracing currents of energy.  "The school!  We have to hurry."  He wasted no time, preparing to teleport the very next moment.

"Gemini mentioned the Penumbra.  It's you telling her about it that kept her from finishing me off.  What is it?  What does it have to do with June?"  Senine asked as Vember cast the spell.

"I will tell you...and her....when this is done.  If we survive."

 

****

 

"Isn't it beautiful?"  The puppet said as Augusta, a badly wounded Faye, Cassie, and a possessed Amber pulled themselves from the wreckage of the locker room.  "Look at her.  The true heart of Nemesis."

June looked over her shoulder and regarded the Puppet for just a moment.  Before the Puppet could say anything else, it exploded into a mass of black and white flame.

"Woah Junie, that was awesome!"  Auggie said, eyes wide.

"All evil must be destroyed."  The glowing, floating form turned to Amber, who was already trying to line up a shot on Faye.  With a gesture, Amber was thrown against the wall by a wave of black and white energy.  Cassie rushed up to Faye and began healing her, but kept an eye on June.

"She has been corrupted.  This is necessary.  Evil must be destroyed."  The distorted voice of the Penumbra said as it floated towards Amber.

Amber recovered quickly and snapped her fingers several times.  Manacles reached up from all around the Penumbra-possessed June.  All of them melted away to nothing before they made contact.

"I could just vaporize you right now, but what was that you said earlier, Amber?"  The Penumbra asked, gesturing slightly.  Black and white energy sparked all around her, and Amber dropped her rifle as she screamed in pain.   "It's always better to be cruel."

"Now you see what it's like to be a victim.  How does it feel?"

"Okay, this isn't so awesome.  Junie, stop!"  Augusta ran up to June and tried to grab her, but the shorter girl found herself flung away by a black and white flash.  Black and white flame rose up all around June.

“To defend evil makes one as bad as an evil.  I cannot risk the corruption spreading.”  June turned to Auggie and lifted her hand.  Magic started to gather around her and form a swirling mass of light and dark flame.  “I am sorry.  This needs to be.”

"June, no!"  Faye, who was still bleeding, lept, between Penumbra and Augusta.  "Please Junie, you don't want to do this."

Penumbral June paused for a moment.  “...You are not wicked, and this Nemesis is very fond of you.  But all who would guard the unjust must face justice.”  The fire around her flared higher, and all of the black and white switched places.  "So, please, get out of my way."

Vines erupted from the ground and started to whirl around and grab at the Penumbra.  They all burned away, and Cassie found herself also launched back by a flare of dark and light.  June did not even look at her.

“It’s clear that this world is too corrupted.  The infection must be purged.”  The Penumbra gave a sad sigh.  “As always.  Not strong enough to control me.  Not strong enough to keep me from my grim task.  June has failed, as all have before.”

"No!  Junie's stronger than you think!"  Faye insisted.  "Please!  Give her a chance!"

The form reached out and brushed Faye's cheek, something like a flicker of recognition passing quickly in her black glowing eyes.  "I'm sorry, Faye.  I'm sorry, but this place has to burn.  Everyone has to burn. Despair has already overwhelmed her."  The Penumbra then glowed brighter and brighter.  "It is time to start over.”

A large cluster of metal spikes flew up and shot towards the Penumbra.  They all melted away to nothing.

A look of genuine regret flashed across the Penumbra's face.  "I'm sorry it had to end like this.  I'm sorry it always has to end like this."

"It does not, Miss Penumbra."  Came Vember's voice, from behind the glowing figure.  It turned and faced him.  Senine was standing next to him, doing her best to look intimidating.

“....You are familiar.  The last Nemesis.  Lori.  Before I was forced to do my task.”

"Indeed, but that is not important now.  If you would be so kind as to indulge an old man for a moment and let me speak?"  He asked.  The thing in June's body hesitantly nodded.

"You see only despair in June's heart because that is all the puppet has let you see.  Allow me to remove those strings.  You might see something in June that will surprise.  She certainly has surprised me."  Vember said.

The Penumbra seemed unsure.  Faye, unburned, put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's the best person I know."  Faye said kindly.

The Penumbra paused, and then nodded.

Vember made sure The Penumbra and the struggling Amber were in line with each other, and then began to concentrate, his power star bending and twisting the magicks at work in the Puppetrix's binding and, finally, all of the threads connecting both of them glowed brightly, and then faded back into place before disappearing utterly.

Amber passed out, but the Penumbra's flight was interrupted for just a split second as she adjusted.

"...I understand.”  The Penumbra floated to the ground.  “She has...adjusted to despair, already.  She is different, for now.  It is not yet time, I allowed the wicked wraith to cloud my purpose.  It will not happen again.  Until she finally breaks down, and I am forced to end things again.”

"Please, Penumbra.  Give her a chance."

"Very well, but ultimately, nothing will be any different.  Nothing has ever been any different."  The Penumbra closed her eyes.  "In the end, it'll all happen again."

The fire flared, flickered, and died.  June, underneath, collapsed into the waiting arms of Faye.  Her entire left arm now smoking.

"What the heck was that?"  Auggie exclaimed.  Vember was standing by Faye and June.  Faye's bleeding had mostly stopped by now.

"It will take a long time to explain, and I suggest we do so at the tower.  The damage here is extensive and the badges are not foolproof."  Vember's attention was focused on June.  "Is the other girl doing alright?"

The others looked over to her, and saw Amber standing weakly, rifle summoned and raised towards Faye.  Before anyone could react, she fired.

There was a boom, and an explosion of wood splinters as another puppet, who had appeared behind Faye and June with knives in her hands, fell back, a tangle of wooden limbs and an empty space where its head would normally be.

"Like?  Better than you...losers..."  Amber said with a smile before passing out again.

"Well, she's less evil than before."  Augusta replied.  Cassie was at June and Faye, a green glow around her hand as Faye's wound healed the rest of the way.  Senine grabbed Amber and motioned for Auggie to come over by her.

"Come on, shortie.  We need to take the fast route."  She said, and Mr. Vember finished his spell, and the six girls and one man were gone in a flash.

None of them had noticed, through a hole in the side of the locker room, that Lynneth, a growing smirk on her face, had seen everything.

 

*****

 

"Puppetrix.  I grow weary of your failure."  Stellos growled.

"Vember's intrusion was unforseen."  The faceless figure said, her hands free of marionette crosses for once.  "But it was not for naught.  I have uncovered the reason for Dark Star's unfathomable power."

Stellos, though still angry, was intrigued.   "What, then?"

"She has the Penumbra inside her, my lord.  The fabled weapon of the light and shadow."  She replied.

That gave Stellos  considerable pause.  "The Penumbra.  How is this even possible?"

"I cannot compute how."  Finneous said, "But this explains with one hundred percent probability how the Heart of Nemesis receives her power."

"Can we even fight such a thing?"  Stellos asked.

"The same tactic is effective.  The Penumbra is an empathic weapon and a source of magic.  It reacts very strongly to despair.."  The robot replied.  "If pushed, the outcome will be the same.  However, the city itself will be the casualty."

"I need the hearts of this city.  They're excellent--no city has hearts as good as these."  Stellos thought for a few moments.  "However, earning the ire of the Penumbra does not seem worth it."

"My lord."  Finneous began.  "If we could gain the Penumbra for ourselves, you would have the brightest and darkest star in the Universe in your possession.  It could be a centerpiece for your entire collection.  Also, our probability for success is ninety-seven percent."

"...Explain."  Stellos asked cautiously.

"While the Penumbra is formidable, all available records suggest the Stellar Swords and you, my lord, are more than a match for a junior ranger with the weapon inside her.  The Penumbra is powerful, but does not allow itself to be controlled.  Simply passively removing energy from the weapon can destroy the bearer of Nemesis."  The robot continued.

"I have seen the signs, Baron Stellos."  The Puppetrix added.  "She has been branded by the weapon.  The battle with your pets seared her flesh in and of itself.  It will not be long before the Penumbra leaves her a charred husk."

Baron Stellos was silent for several more minutes before speaking.  "Finneous.  Inform the Swords.  Tell Rex especially to be ready for combat the moment they arrive.  Puppetrix, continue to spy on them, but do not interfere.  I have an idea, and for it to work, I will want a detailed report on each and every person Hespia knows, no matter how tangentially-- Especially this 'Novias Vember'.  Do you understand?"

"It shall be done, Baron Stellos."

"Yes, my lord."

 

*****

 

June woke up, for the second time in recent memory, in the infirmary of the Park Tower.  Leah was waiting by her bedside.

"Hey June.  How're you feeling?"  Leah waved something that looked like a steampunk geiger counter over June, the device swirling and whistling as she examined it carefully.

"I..."  June looked at her left arm, which felt as if it was mildly asleep.  Star shapes covered it.  Some of them were solid black, and some were white bordered in black, and others were black bordered in white.  She pulled up her sleeve and saw they, at the very least, went all the way to her shoulder, and probably farther.  "Wh--"

"My dad'll explain it soon, trust me.  Right now, I need to know how you're feeling.  Any fatigue?  Dizziness?"

June shook her head.  "No..actually, I feel really good.  There's a little tingling in my arm, but nothing too bad."

Rather than be reassured, Leah frowned a bit at that news.  "Alright.  Wait here.  I'm going to go tell Dad you're up."

June sat in the bed for what felt like half an hour.  The room was empty save for the beds and medical-magical equipment.  Somewhere, something very slowly dripped.

After many maddening minutes, Mister Vember, Leah, and the others came inside, including Julius.  Faye made a bee-line for June, looked at her with intense worry, and said nothing.  She, Auggie, and Cassie all had the signs they had recently been crying--red eyes, flushed cheeks, and damp shirts.

"Ah, Miss Hespia.  How are you feeling?"  Vember asked.

"I'm fine...why is everyone acting like I'm terminal?"  June asked.  Faye's eyes grew wet again, and she flung herself at June.

"Oh Junie!"  She cried.  Julius did not make eye contact with his sister, and instead, wandered over to a far wall.  Leah quickly followed him.

"Miss June...I have already informed the others what I am about to tell you. Would you care to hear it alone, or with them?"  Vember asked.

"I...I guess I can hear it now?  What's wrong?"  She asked. 

"It's not fair!" She heard her brother shout, and then a thud into the walls of the room.

"...maybe it would be best if we could talk alone."  Vember offered again.

June looked to her distraught friends, nodded, pried herself from Faye, and followed Vember out of the room.

They walked in silence for a while until Mr. Vember came to a large bank of windows that looked out upon the city and park below.  He stared out into the park as he began.

"In the ages before we had hearts, before the universe was quite like it is now, the hearts of stars lived freely as independent beings.  The strongest and most enigmatic among them were two siblings, twins.  The first was Sympathos, the Light Star, and the other, his sister, Nemesis, the Dark Star.  They were inseparable, and together they traveled all across the universe.  They fought star vampires, they fought the Outward Kings from beyond the stars, they battled ancient enemies, ancient forces we do not have words for.  They were the stars' champions."

Vember continued to stare out the window, refusing to look directly at June.  "After an unknown, possibly uncountable amount of time...something happened.  According to legend, and this is all legend, Nemesis was overtaken by despair.  We do not know why, and we are also unclear as to why, in her despair, she killed her brother, ripped the heart from his chest, and then ripped half her own out as well.  She then shoved half her brother's heart into her own, to fill the gap filled by her self-mutilation."

Chills ran down June's spine, from more than simply the story.  She recognized it.  She knew it.  Or, rather, it knew her.

"We do know what happened next.  According to the folklore of the Stellar Rangers, she took both hearts--now fragments of what they were before--and fused them in a forge built from the husk of Sympathos's dying star.  The result, the terrible, terrible result, was called the Shadow's Shadow.  The Penumbra."

Something in June tingled at that name.  "That's...I think I blacked out when the puppet started pulling strings, but I remember hearing something about that."

"The Penumbra was a weapon, a terrible weapon, powered by light and darkness and fueled by Nemesis's madness.  It is said her rampage weakened all other magic in all other stars, that stars' hearts could no longer live on their own, that from then on a star needed to empower another.  She slew a million star hearts, and sent a hundred times that back to the star they gained their power from until, with the combined strength of a billion hearts, Nemesis, the last pure heart, was slain, and the Penumbra, the weapon forged half from light, half from dark, vanished.

"And then, thousands of years later, it was revealed that Nemesis was not gone forever.  Just as other stars could empower life forms at birth, so too could she.  But, almost to a one, the power was too great for them.  Some were driven mad by it.  Others were destroyed by the now-conflicting powers of their heart.  But what was worse, what was far worse, were the ones that survived.

"Those who could master the heart, those affected the least, brought forth the Penumbra.  It had not been destroyed, it was simply resting, resting in it's heart's heart, the twin of Nemesis and, yet, Nemesis itself at the same time.  And if the Heart of Nemesis did not drive its bearer to suicide and destruction...then its Shadow certainly did."

June froze.  Her blood was cold, and her eyes were on her tingling hand.

"The last bearer of the Heart of Nemesis was my wife, Leah's mother.  Lori, was her name.  She was brave, and she was strong.  She lived long enough to give birth to my wonderful daughter.  But after Leah was born, Lori's sanity began to crack.  Her star marked her, bleeding in at her fingertips, like your arm, Miss Hespia, slowly, over the course of half a dozen years.  When the Penumbra finally manifested...I had only enough time to teleport my young daughter out of there before all of  Sun Springs was leveled.  The city was rebuilt as Solar City a few years later."  Vember continued to stare out into the city.  

"I..."  June stuttered.  Her arm tingled more now.  Vember turned to her and knelt.

"I want you to listen to me, June."  He said, meeting her eyes.  "Because even though what I just told you was dreadful and gloomy business, there is still hope.  There will always be hope, because, and this is important--you have already resisted the Penumbra."

June looked at him, uncomprehending.  Her arm tingled a lot less.

"The Puppetrix should have unleashed it.  By all rights, we should all be dead.   _ But we are noy. _  It was not me that stayed the Penumbra's hand as it controlled you.  All I could do was buy you time.  And it worked.  So, Miss Hespia, please, always keep this in mind:  this is not a death sentence.  I am not saying you will turn mad and destroy everything, because from what I have seen, from what you have shown me, you will do what no one else ever has."  He looked her in the eye.  "You will fight the desire to fall to despair, and you will win."

"But...I mean, if no one else did...how can I?  If no one else beat this, what chance do I have?  I'm just a teenager."  June said, voice unsure but not desperate.

"Because you have hope, child.  More than I think you know.  It's your greatest strength, never forget that.  When everything seems at its worst, when all the chips are down, and it feels you've hit the very bottom,"  Vember smiled warmly.  "Remember that.  Never give up, ever.  I see the capacity to endure and prevail all things inside you.  All I'm asking is that you find it."

June looked away, worry obvious on her face.  "Do I have a choice?  It's this or die or go crazy and kill thousands of people."

"Listen to me carefully, June.  This is vital."  He gained her eye contact again.  "No matter what happens, no matter what anyone tells you, even me, remember this:  you will always have a choice."

 

****

 

June sat in the grass in the park, below the tower and in its shade, which it cast despite not being visible to people.  On her lap was her acoustic guitar, and she was trying as hard as she could to play, but, unlike before, her fingers tripped over themselves.  Every perfect melody was punctuated by a beat too long of rest, or a chord played in the wrong key, if the proper chord was even played to begin with.

It was, however, no less entrancing to her.  More so, perhaps, as with every mistake made, June started again, and did it better than before, until the next mistake was made, and she stopped, frowned, and began anew.

So she did not realize that Senine was sitting cross-legged in front of her until she looked up and saw the speckled-haired teen watching her barely a foot away, purple eyes attentive.

"Hey."

June jumped, nearly throwing her guitar in the air.  Senine let out a dry chuckle.

"Sorry I startled you.  We've been watching for a while, and I think I got elected to talk to you."  She gestured back towards the park's central fountain.  Leah and Julius were on one bench, and on the opposite side, Cassie and Auggie were sitting, with Faye sitting on the grass a bit closer, but still a respectful distance away.  Apart from everyone else, Amber and Mr. Vember were having a somewhat tense-looking discussion.

"I...I'm fine.  I just need to be alone for a bit."  June replied.  Senine shook her head.

"Listening to you play, I think it's the last thing you need."  She countered.  "Right now I think you need someone to talk to who won't sob or grumble about how unfair life is.  So, here I am, cover girl of Unfeeling Bitch magazine."  She added with a slight smirk.

June smiled a bit despite herself at that.  "You're not that bad."

"No, I'm worse.  But right now, I'm just a listener.  No speeches, no pity.  Just let how you feel out."  The older girl replied.

June looked down.  "I...I'm alright.  I guess.  I mean, it's not a big deal.  Everyone dies sometime.  I just might take a few hundred people with me, is all."

"Live fast, die young, and leave a good looking crater."  Senine looked up at the clouds overhead, and also the tower.

June's shocked eyes snapped up to Senine at that.  The older teen looked back into June's gaze.  "Like I said, cover girl.  But that's not how you really feel.  I can tell."

"I don't know what you..."  June began.

"You're wondering what you did to deserve this.  You, of any of the other billions of babies all over the universe born when Vember's wife went kamikaze and nuked herself, you got her nice little legacy, and you're wondering why it was you given this destructive little gift.  It makes you angry, and sad, and desperate."  Senine's tone was even, and her eyes did not leave June's.  "You want to escape like you usually do but Vember's told you in no uncertain terms that you're probably going to kill everyone you love, so playing the guitar's a bit hard right now."

June's expression was shocked and uncertain.  She said, in a whisper barely audible to Senine, "Yes."

"And you've put two and two together.  Suddenly, Stellos's three-pronged assault on your crush, the girl who follows you like a puppy, and your brother, make a whole lot more sense, as does the crater where that park used to be.  Then you start to wonder if everything he's been doing with that creepy-ass puppet girl lackey of his hasn't been to  _ make _ you blow up and kill your friends."  Senine continued.  "You start to wonder if maybe doing the job yourself sooner will just make it easier on everyone else."

June's guitar fell out of her lap.  Her gaze was firmly downward.

" _ Yes. _ "

"And then he wins, because the minute you're serious about offing yourself, you give into despair, and then we get to see if third time's the charm for Solar City, or whatever they'll call it once the smoke clears."  Senine now reclined backwards with her hands, staring up again.  "Of course, he also loses, because all his hearts go up in smoke and find new people to go to.  But hey, at least we'll die knowing he's not taking any hearts from Solar City."

"Stop it."  June whispered.

"Why, June?  If you've given up, why shouldn't I?"  Her tone remained the same.

"I haven't given up."

"Prove it."

"You don't..."

Senine stopped her there, sitting up straight, reaching out, and lifting June's head, staring into her crying red eyes with her own purple eyes, now serious rather than flippant.

"But I do.  I know more about all this than you think.  I know what it's like to give in so I can see you doing it, right now."  She said, tone a bit softer now.  "And I also know you giving up is bullshit, because I can also tell you're at least as strong as I am, and I'm still here.  Wouldn't be here if I wasn't."  She added with a light chuckle.

"It's...it just seems so hard.  Like I suddenly have a path in front of me, and the path can't end well."  June said at length.  "Mister Vember tried to tell me I could change it...but I can feel it, inside me.  I think I always could, but it wasn't until now...I almost killed Faye and Auggie and Cassie.  If you and Vember had been a few seconds later...they'd be dead.  And maybe you too.  How am I supposed to feel about that?  What am I supposed to do?"

"You want my suggestion?"  Senine asked as she stood and stretched.  June saw a bit of her belly then, and what looked to be an impressive scar running diagonally across it.

"Yeah."

"You have power in you.  That's good and that's bad, but it's also part of you.  Accept it.  Treat it well.  Use it."  Senine fished around in her satchel and removed a pack of cigarettes, removing one and a lighter from the pack and lighting it.  "Stellos wants to see your power so badly?  Show it to him.  But don't let it overwhelm you.  It's a part of you, June.  No one needs to be afraid of themselves."  She smiled and rolled her eyes.  "Guess I'm not so good at the whole 'no speeches' thing, am I?"

June chuckled.  "No, but...thanks."

A few moments passed, and June said, "Senine?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to...talk about it?"  She asked.

"No."  The older girl instantly responded.  "Maybe some other time, but not now."  She then waved, and left June to herself and the guitar.

When she put it back in her lap and started playing again, while not yet perfect again, her ability to play was already improving.


	11. Episode Eleven:  Invincible

"Wait. You're saying, like, all this is because of stars." Amber said in a disbelieving tone. "As in, those big flaming balls of gas, like, trillions of miles away."

She and Faye were in the training room of the tower, along with Mister Vember and Senine.

"The world is not, in and of itself, all you can see, Miss Septus." He replied. "There are powers, things beyond our sight which, regardless of whether we can see or experience them, shape our lives everyday."

"So some star out there's big into metal, and part of it is in me, so that's how I can make metal do what I want?" She asked incredulously.

"Put vulgarly, yes. Essentially..."

"Part of the star makes up part of your soul. It's like that for everything but in your case, congratulations, you're one of the lucky few to actually be able to wield the energy of the star's soul itself." Senine interrupted.

Mr. Vember sighed. "Yes, thank you Senine. Clearly I am no longer needed here." He replied dryly.

"Just doing my part to cut down on the magi-babble, boss." She replied casually.

"Okay. So stars have souls and they give some people magic or something." Amber paraphrased. "So why doesn't everyone know this?"

"Because the Stellar Rangers have decided that Earth is not ready for the revelation. We are not the only planet that is not ready, of course, but our period of...enforced ignorance has lasted longer than most." Vember said.

"Wait. Wait wait wait. There're aliens? And they have magic too? Like, what the hell?" Amber asked incredulously.

"Yes, Miss Septus. Now, if there are no more questions, we must continue training. Stellos has given us a brief reprieve, but we cannot expect it to last." Vember insisted.

Amber rolled her eyes. "Oh god, whatever. I don't see why we need to practice and the other three losers don't. They get to, like, go shopping just because Hespia's going to kill us all? Lame?"

All three of the others stared at her in gaping, open-mouthed horror, before Senine let out a bark of a laugh and smirked. "Oh, I think I'm gonna like you, kid."

***

"I don't know." June frowned in the mirror, holding up a black fishnet shirt in front of her. She, Auggie, and an out-of-place Cassie were standing in a small store filled with black clothing, black paint on the walls, and slogans from obscure bands, television shows, vintage music and shows, and pretty much every other article of clothing the everyday outcast needed. A pair of high-schooler clerks sat behind the counter, apathetically reading magazines while customers milled about the store.

"It'll look totally cute on you, Junie." Auggie replied, perusing the body jewelry.

"Yeah, but it's like thirty dollars, and knowing me I'll grow out of it in that many seconds." She said dismally. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm going to hit seven feet before I stop getting taller."

"Oh no, Junie gets to grow up to look like a super model! How horrible!" Augusta countered with a smirk. June stuck her tongue out at her.

"Hey, just as long as I don't have to model anything white." She replied. She glanced over to Cassie, who was staring blankly at a nearby mirror. "Sorry I'm taking so long, Cass. We can hit a preppier store if you want."

Cassie turned to June and smiled weakly. "It is alright, take as long as you want. After this, I think I want to go home, though?"

"Everything alright?" The taller girl asked.

"It's fine. It is...my birthday's coming up." She said, meaningfully.

June did not get it, but Auggie explained. "It's not her birthday that's the problem. It's the day after. Cass was born at like 11:50 at night on Halloween, while Gemi was born at like 12:03 in the morning on Dia de Los Muertos. It's the day Gemini gets to be free."

"Oh. That's like the day before the talent show, right?" The white-haired girl asked.

Cassie nodded. "Gemini will be free from Twelve-oh-three on the First, until the same time on the Second. During that time, she can do whatever she wants, as long as she follows one rule: take no human life."

"This is gonna be her first free time." Auggie added. "I almost forgot, with all the commotion."

"I'm nervous." Cassie admitted. June brought the shirt--one a size too big-- up to the counter and handed the cashier, a girl skinny enough to make Senine seem a bit heavy, a pair of twenties. The cashier handed her change back without even looking up. The three of them left, making their way through the sea of people coming and going in the mall, towards a large, open food court. "I have not seen her since she was locked away."

"Well, Vember'll keep an eye on her. And, hey, maybe she's gotten better." Auggie suggested. Cassie smiled weakly again at that.

"I've hoped so, but...Gemini has always been the stubborn one." She got distant then, saying under her breath, "Life is fluid, death is insistent."

Auggie chewed on her lip, sighed, and said, "Okay, I'm not supposed to tell you, because he wanted it to be a surprise, but..."

"Octavian is coming for my birthday!?" Cassie, in the blink of an eye, was in front of her best friend, gripping the blue-haired girl's hand in both of hers, a wide, hopeful smile on her face.

"Um, yeah. That production of Othello he's in is comin' through here around then, so of course he's gonna wanna see you." Auggie replied with a smile. "I mean, let's face it, you two are totally nuts about each other."

Cassie's smile grew wider. She gave a little cheer and jumped up and down. In the crowd, more than a few stopped to look at her, but Cassie didn't notice.

"Octavian's coming to see me!" She cheered again. "I've missed him so!"

The three made their way towards the food court, a slightly amused look on June's face. "How long've you two been dating, anyway?'

"The beginning of summer." Cassie replied, the smile not leaving her face. "We were both in a foul temper--Octavian because of Senine's...indiscretions, myself because my sister...well, that doesn't need repeating." She sighed as they got in line at a sandwich shop in the food court. "He was sweet, and charming, and now, we're together."

"He has wind powers, right?" June asked. Despite their odd conversation, no one seemed to notice or care the sudden shift of the topic to magic.

"Yep! He's a full-fledged Ranger, like Senine. Real good with his bow." Auggie replied.

They were next in line. June sighed. "Finally. I feel like I could eat a oh my god what is that?" She stiffened and turned, towards the large glass doors past the carousel in the center of the food court, leading off into the parking lot.

"What is it? A Hollow Heart?" Cassie asked, her bright smile turning to a concerned frown.

"I think so. It's...far. But getting closer. Fast. And it's coming right this way." June replied, eyes closed and brow furrowed.

"We better intercept, then." Auggie said. "I mean, it's probably after us, right?"

"Right," June began, reaching into her messenger bag and pulling out her badge. "Let's..."

And then the glass wall shattered, safety glass exploding outward and showering patrons all around the food court. They scattered in a panic, and probably would have knocked Auggie, Cassie, and June to the ground were it not for the avoidance effects of the badge.

The crowd cleared quickly, and standing by the carousel was the source, of both the rapid clearing and the explosion.

He was six feet tall and humanoid, but obviously not human. His face was vaguely pointed, and his skin grey and rough. The figure was smiling, but it was hard to tell if this was because of mirth or if its massive, triangular teeth forced him into the expression constantly. He wore a Hollow Heart uniform, with a golden sword marking his lapel and broad, muscular shoulders. At his side were a pair of curved swords, and each of his wrists was covered by a jeweled bracer, covered in glowing gemstones of all the colors of the rainbow.

"So, you're the Rangers my master is so worried about." The well-muscled shark-teen said with a grinning sneer. "Personally, I fail to see what all the fuss is about. Little girls? Fah. Three, six, a hundred, you are still children."

"Yeah, well we're not impressed by you Hollow-Heart jerks." Auggie quipped back. "I mean, that Brush guy, that Knife guy, those dogs...I mean, you guys' track record's not that good."

He laughed cruelly at that. "You compare me to salamanders, lackies, and housepets. You wear your ignorance plainly, girl. I am one of the Stellar Swords, the right hands of the Baron himself. We travel the universe and find the greatest hearts we can for him. We require no backup, no army, none but ourselves, and the planets' finest falls to us, one by one. I am the greatest of the Swords, and, today, I will slay you, and any of your pathetic friends that I can drag from hiding with your dying screams."

Auggie had her batons out, and Cassie had her scythe at the ready, but June's eyes were on his bracers. "You...you monster." She said, eyes wide.

"What's wrong, Junie?" Auggie asked.

"Those are all star hearts. Every gem is a trapped soul." Umbra and Albedo sprang into being. "How can you do something like that?"

"For power, what else? There are enough, contained, that my natural powers are amplified a hundredfold." His red eyes gleamed darkly. "This battle will be of no consequence for me. I hardly see why my master continues to plot against you." He unsheathed his surprisingly large swords. "Ah, but how rude of me. "I am Rex, and I will be your executioner today."

"We'll see." June replied stepping back into a defensive stance.

Rex charged forward in a straight line towards the three girls, and got a lightning bolt to his face for his troubles. But he did not slow, and he was not burned, and he did not twitch or convulse from the current. The Stellar Sword raised his blades and slammed them down, the girls scattering to avoid them. The table behind June fell away in three clean-cut pieces.

"Is that the best you can do? Pathetic." The shark-toothed youth sneered.

Auggie frowned and stepped back, batons crackling and raised above her head. She spun and brought them crashing down, a massive bolt of lightning streaking out at Rex.  
It, too, hit him with no effect. He slashed out his right blade at her, which she dodged quickly away from.

"I think I almost felt that one. Almost." He smirked, slashing wide at Cassie, She blocked the attack with her scythe and was sent stumbling back. His shark grin widened and he stepped in for the kill, but vines erupted from the potted greenery all around him, surging towards the wicked warrior.

He aborted his killing attack and destroyed the plants, then turning back to Cassie, who was scrambling to her feet. He brought his swords back again, a blast of light and a blast of darkness hitting him with no effect.

They came down in a high chop, but were blocked by Volt’s batons. Auggie grimaced and pressed back against the blades as Cassie scrambled to her feet. Rex pressed his blades forward, grin widening, and Auggie’s eyes widened when she saw rapidly deepening grooves in her batons. She dodged back with a clap of thunder, pulling Cassie with her.

“What’s the matter?” Rex taunted. “Your pitiful weapons not doing any good?”

As if on cue, a purple and black warhammer collided with the back of Rex’s head.

He didn’t even flinch as the hammer was brought back and Senine jumped away from his wide slashing counter-attack.

“Okay. That’s decidedly not good.” Senine said, backing up with the others.

“Oh.” Rex said, lifting his swords into a decidedly aggressive stance. “It looks very good from where I’m standing.”

****

Amber lifted her rifle and aimed at the straw dummy in front of her. This was the first gun she had ever held. The first weapon she had ever used.

The first shot was a bull’s eye. She ratcheted the lever forward and back, and fired again. She could feel her bullet slam into the first one. She ratcheted the lever again.

Another bang, and once again, her third bullet struck the second.

It felt like an extension of her arm. She was not just holding the weapon. It was a part of her.

She ratcheted another round in the chamber. She heard Vember suddenly say something, though it was not directed at her.

“Faye, are you feeling alright?”

Amber lowered her rifle slightly and turned towards where she had thought Faye was.

Something hit Amber hard, knocking away her gun. She looked up in a panic and felt a hand close around her throat.

Faye was straddling her chest, fist pulled back, and hand around Amber’s throat.

Suddenly. there was a flash of light and a loud pop. Faye was now across the room from Amber, suspended in air. Mr. Vember stood between the girls, hand raised slightly towards Faye.

“Faye!” He said sternly. “Calm yourself.”

Amber stood, holding her neck and coughing. She looked up at Faye, a biting comment on the tip of her tongue, before she saw the wide, tear-filled eyes looking at her.

“I...I’m sorry...I...” She started to say, tears streaming down her face. “I just remembered you shooting at me and I started to get twitchy and then you turned towards me and and and...”

With that, Faye was bawling.

Amber, who had, seconds ago, the express goal of causing this state in Faye, was now at a complete loss for words.

Faye was gently let down by Mr. Vember. She backed away a little, and Amber could see that fur was starting to bristle around her face and arms.

“Just calm down, my dear.” Vember said softly. “It was an accident. Amber isn’t upset with you. Are you?”

The redhead was suddenly aware that they were both looking expectantly at her.

“I. Yeah. I guess. I mean, I did shoot at you. And stuff.” Amber tried to act like she could not still feel the vice grip on her throat, even without the hand there. “It’s, uh, not a big deal. I’d want to choke me too, I guess.”

Vember did not really look happy at that statement, but he turned to Faye and said nothing about it. “Now, Faye, remember. She was under control just like you were. Amber would never shoot you.”

“Yeah. Like, I guess not.”

Faye shuffled her feet a little. “I’m sorry, Amber. It won’t happen again, I promise!”

“Like, like I said. It’s fine. I--”

She was interrupted by Vember going stock still and listening, holding up a finger to silence the girls. His brow knitted with concentration and worry.

“Girls, I hate to do this, but you need to head to the mall, immediately.” He said, and began casting a small spell. “I will send you there.”

“What’s happening?” June asked, a look of panic flickering over her face. “Is Junie alright?!”

“She will be if you hurry.” White light started to shimmer around them.

“Hold up. Like, why do we have to fight? Why can’t you?” Amber asked.

“There’s no time to explain. I could face serious consequences just teleporting you. Go. Now.”

They did not have much choice in the matter.

The next moment, they were in the food court, a few dozen yards away from a fight between Auggie, Cassie, June, Senine, and a rather toothy alien. Unfortunately, the alien seemed to have the upper hand.

“Okay, like, did lightning just sort of bounce off him? What the hell?” Amber said, pulling her gun into existence. As she watched, that tall skinny highschooler slammed her hammer right into the thing’s chest, to absolutely no effect.

“I don’t know, but we gotta help!” Faye said, and then immediately bounded into the fray, before Amber could say another word.

“Okay, whatever, I’ll just...stay here.” Amber knelt, lifting the Adamant Rifle to her shoulder, and carefully lined up a shot. The Hollow Heart ducked a claw-swing from Faye, and slashed a sword out. It managed to catch June in the shoulder, and the girl went stumbling back, holding her arm as best she could. A feral growl escaped Faye’s lips, and before the cheerleader practically launched herself at the Hollow Heart.

The alien just smirked--at least, it looked like he might have. He did not even dodge the while claw swipes, and simply batted Faye away as though she were nothing. He then pressed towards June, who had withdrawn, and was busy being healed by Cassie. Auggie and Senine were trying their best to keep him at bay, but they were rapidly losing the battle.

Amber had a clean shot.

All she had to do was pull the trigger, and she would put a bullet right at the Stellar Sword’s head.

Instead, she lowered her rifle.

She turned and ran a few steps, to one of the many benches in the food court. She reached down, touched one of the steel supports of the bench, and pulled away a chunk of metal the size of her fist. She slowly shaped it in her hands, bleeding away its mass until she had a sizable, and rather dense, slug.

Rex batted Senine away, and shoved Augusta to the side. His fanged grin grew even wider as he parried a swing from Cassie’s scythe and, with a single, complex maneuver, managed to pull the scythe from her hands and toss it away.

June, arm still bleeding slightly, drew back into a defensive posture. Rex just shook his head.

“Is this all? The carrier of Nemesis and her friends?” He said mockingly. “I told you, you’re just children, and now--”

Rex’s arm exploded.

His bracer burst, and the stars flashed brightly, consuming it in a fiery, rainbow flare. He stumbled back, staring at his stump in disbelief.

“HOW!?” He exclaimed. “HOW COULD YOU--”

He took a hammer to the chest, and was sent flying, through a tables, chairs, and through the counter of a taco place, crashing into the make line in back.

“Oh, hey, looks like someone’s not invincible anymore.” Senine said, stepping forward.

Rex pulled himself from the wreckage, now dripping with beans, low-grade meat, cheese, and hot sauce. He was most definitely not smiling, now, even if his teeth continued to pull his face into one.

“I WILL BUTCHER YOU ALL! YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME! DO YOU HEAR--”

There was a bright flash of light, and then, as quickly as he had arrived, Rex was gone.

****

Rex, at first, was confused at his sudden change of scenery.

Where he was previously in the human food repository, he was now on the carpet in front of the Baron’s throne, dripping unpalatable human food all over the floor.

“My lord!” Rex said, kneeling before his Baron. “Send me back at once, and I will finish them.”

“No, Rex.” Stellos replied. “That will not be necessary. If I send you back, you will die. They’ve proven their strength and ingenuity. We will repair you, and then we will use this information for a definitive strike against them.”

“But...I can defeat them! They cheated!” He exclaimed. “Please, my lord. They must have cheated! No magic can defeat me!”

“Quite right. I would love to see how, exactly, they accomplished that. Now, go clean up and see if you can’t find a replacement arm.” Stellos turned to Finneous. “And...clean that mess up, will you?”

***

“Okay, Amber. Spill.” June began, not at the base, for once, but rather, at a burger joint down the street. “How’d you hurt it?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “It was super easy. Duh. You kept using magic things on him. So I used magic to make, like, a normal bullet.”

“...Oh god.” Auggie said, feigning a fainting spell. “I don’t think I can take the stress of the revelation that Amber is the smartest one out of all of us.”

“Like, I could’ve told you that.” Amber replied. “You losers just kept on doing things the hard way.”

“Well, you are one of the things I think of when I think ‘easy’.” Auggie countered.

Amber just rolled her eyes. “Someone’s mature.”

“Seriously though, Amber.” June said, smiling at the redhead. “You did a great job, and even though we’ve had our differences, I’m glad you’re on our team.”

Amber blushed, and then shrugged. “Whatever, it’s no big deal. I mean, you losers need me, so, I might as well help you out.”

“How are you still such a bitch?” Auggie replied, a bit of a hostile edge to her voice.

“Oh, no, Auggie!” Faye said, smiling a little craftily. “You just need to speak Amber! It’s a bit tricky but I think I’m getting real fluent!”

Amber blinked at her.

“What she actually meant is that she’s happy to help and she loves us all very much! Even Auggie!”

Amber’s blush deepend. “Oh God.”

Auggie, on the other hand, started cackling.

“She also says that she’ll help us whenever we need her and that all we need to do is--”

“Faye, if I give you my sandwich, will you shut up?”

“Yes.”

Amber scooted her plate over to the other cheerleader, and then dropped her head to the table in abject embarrassment. June gave her a good-natured pat on the head as Faye started mercilously devouring the remains of the redhead’s chicken sandwich.

“Welcome to the team, Amber.”

 


	12. Episode Twelve:  Day of the Dead, Part one

Halloway Decembren was so angry that he was literally on fire.

  
He stood in a large chamber, the walls made of polished obsidian, and stood, shirtless, with a large, broad-bladed, single-edged sword, which was just as on fire as he was. Also in the chamber were the charred remains of several dozen practice dummies.

  
“You know, my love, I have better ways for you to burn off that energy.” Hal heard from the darkness behind him.

  
“I’m in no mood, Lanessa. That’d require a certain measure of control that I don’t have right now.” He replied, turning to face his betrothed.

  
She was taller, than Lynneth. Older, as well, though she was still inarguably the same person. She still wore her cloak, though the hood hung back. She put a hand to Hal’s cheek, smoke rising from her touch. She did not flinch, and she did not falter.

  
Hal pulled away. “I appreciate the gesture, but the council’s decision is still fresh.” He let out a sound that was half snarl and half sigh. “How could they rule in favor of that...that monster, and not I. My goal’s noble and he...” He turned and threw the sword. The blade stabbed right into the wall, cracks spiderwebbing from the entry point, and a volcanic glow slowly seeping from said fissures.

  
“His word has weight, beloved.” Lanessa said softly. “He’s not always been an idle collector.”

  
The sword vanished, and Hal sighed, turning back to her. “You’re right, as usual.”

  
“Do I get a reward for being right?” Lanessa replied playfully. “I’ve been ever so good.”

  
He grinned at that. “We’ll see.” A serious expression forced its way back into his face. “Do you think Stellos has a chance?”

“Oh, my Prince, you know nothing gets me hotter than you obsessing over the Baron.” Lanessa countered, rolling her eyes.

“This is important. If he fails...maybe we could get permission to approach June.”

“Grim and I believe he has little chance. Though, in the past, he’s had surprising luck in beating the odds.” Lanessa put her hands on Hal’s hips. “And did he not promise the source of whatever power he finds, if he finds it?”

“Do you think he’ll abide that agreement?”

“I’m no expert on the trustworthiness of nobles, my love.” Lanessa said, stepping so that she was almost pressing against her beloved. “However, if he does not...perhaps we could pressure the Council into pressuring him into giving it to us.”

Hal nodded. “You’re right. Again, as usual.”

Lanessa gave him a long, passionate kiss on the mouth. Hal had his eyes closed, or he may have noticed red sparks, draining from him, and into her. She pulled away, smiling at him, and he, at her.  
“I believe it’s time for my reward.”

***

“Two moves ‘til checkmate.” Auggie said with a smirk as she moved her bishop a single space up and to the left.

Cassie looked up at her best friend balefully, her leg vibrating nervously as she scanned the board. “I believe it’s considered poor form to taunt in chess.”

“Prove me wrong, then, smart girl.” The blue-haired girl replied, sticking out her tongue.

The were in the Levey dining room/kitchen, a rather modest accommodation in a solidly middle-class part of town. Early morning light filtered in through the glass doors of the room, looking out onto a well-maintained lawn. The three girls were dressed in varying pajamas--June, in a long black shirt and shorts, Auggie in a midnight blue tank top and sweat pants, and Cassie in a green nightgown.

June was also sitting at the round table, and watching the match in between tapping away at her phone.

Cassie moved her knight. Auggie’s grin widened.

“No, wait.” Cassie said, moving her hand towards the piece. Auggie shook her head.

“Taking back your move after you took your hand off it.” The shorter girl tsked. “That’s super poor form, Cass.”

The green-haired girl gave her friend an extremely dirty look, took back her knight, and, instead, moved her queen.

Auggie immediately moved one of her pawns. “Mate in one.”

Cassie stared at the table, rapping her fingers against the counter, staring intently at each and every piece. She started to move her hand twice, and then pulled it back, frowning.

“How are you so good at this, Auggie?” June asked, peeking out, before going back to her phone.

“Oh, I just have a head for it.” She replied. “It’s easy when--”

“I’m trying to concentrate!” Cassie said, voice heavy with frustration.

Auggie held up her hands and stopped talking.

Cassie fretted and stared, and fretted some more, before slowly moving her rook forward.

Auggie, immediately, moved another one of her pawns forward.

“Check and mate.” Auggie grinned.

Cassie stared at the board. “That’s....No...Wait...How!?”

“Oh, I’ve been feinting, like, the last five moves. Waiting for you to move that rook. Everything else’s just been me playing around.”

Cassie looked like she was about to shatter into a million pieces. “You’ve been...playing with me?! But I’ve been studying! I’ve been practicing! How are you still better than me!?”

Auggie shrugged. “Look on the bright side, hon. I got you to stop worrying about Octavian for a while.”

Cassie’s eyes widened. She pulled her phone out, looked at the time, and then double-checked it with the kitchen clock. “Oh no. He’ll be here any minute! I’m not even dressed! I need makeup.”

The green-haired girl darted off, towards the bedrooms and bathrooms, leaving June and Auggie alone in the kitchen.

“So, seriously.” June said. “How’re you so good?”

“Like I was saying.” Auggie set up the chess board again, quickly and efficiently. “Strategy’s easy, when, you know, monsters aren’t trying to kill you or anything.”

“Well, maybe we should do some strategies before hand.” June suggested, switching her chair to the one vacated by Cassie. “We could have maneuvers and stuff. It might help!”

“Oh. I dunno.” Auggie said with a shrug. “I don’t think I can do anything important or anything. I’m just good at games.” She then grinned at June, and then at the board. “Wanna take on the champ?”

June shrugged. “Why not? Might as well see how many moves I--”

“Mate in five.”

“...you can’t know that. You’re just screwing with me.”

Auggie grinned at that. “Wanna bet?”  
  
****

Senine sat at in a booth in “Chica’s Diner”, across from Faye. The small diner was fairly busy at the mid-morning hour, though no one was sitting near the two foster siblings, who were sitting in front of a pair of empty plates, a coffee cup in front of Senine and a half-full glass of juice in front of Faye.

Tears streamed down Faye’s face. She looked up at Senine, and seemed to want to do nothing more than hug her. Senine had a very calm look, but there was a distance, in her eyes, and she was not quite meeting Faye’s gaze.

“So that’s that.” Senine said. “Don’t know how long we’ll be ‘family’, so I thought you should know what might happen.”

“But that’s so...that’s so...” She sniffled. “There’s gotta be something we could do!”

“There isn’t. Nothing good.” Senine shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I’ve come to terms with it.”

“But...but...” Faye’s eyes were wide. Senine sighed, got up, and sat next to Faye.

Immediately, the younger girl wrapped her arms around Senine, and started sobbing into her chest. The older girl sighed, and gently patted Faye on the back.  
“Really, don’t make such a big deal about it. It’s my cross to bear. No choice but to carry it up the hill. And other things comparing me to Jesus.” 

Faye pulled away, still crying.

“It’ll be fine. Trust me.” Senine said with a very slight smile. “I’ve been living with this all my life, and look? I’m not sad, right?”

Faye nodded. “But...it’s not fair.”

“I get to be a superhero for twenty years. I think that’s worth a short lifespan.” The high schooler said with a shrug. “Come on. Let’s go to that new ice cream place. I think we have enough time before you have to be over at Schumacher’s place.”

****

“Want to go again?” Auggie asked, a very self-satisfied grin on her face.

“...okay.” June began, exactly five moves after the start of their game. “How did you do that?”

“Because I know you. I know about what moves you’re going to do.”

“Having never seen me play before.”

“Right.”

“...so you’re a genius, then.”

Auggie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s why I’m a solid C student.”

“Auggie, you beat the smartest girl in our class--consistently--without any effort, while she’s put a whole lotta time into beating you.” June insisted. “You beat me--a person you’ve never played before--and you called the number of moves. How do you not think that’s amazing?”

Augusta shrugged. “It’s just a talent I have. It’s nothing special, Junie. And, besides, you don’t need to be a genius to be good at chess. It’s not about thinking well, necessarily, it’s about thinking the right way.”

June nodded. “So, you going to join the Chess Club when we get to High School?”

The blue-haired teen let out a short laugh. “Probably not! I like chess, and all, but I don’t think I really want to, like, be in competitions and stuff. I’d rather just be the big fish of this small pond.”

“But--”

June was interrupted when Cassie came back into the room. She wore a rather nice green dress that matched her hair, with yellow trim that matched her eyes. She was wearing full makeup, as well as a pair of heels that she was moving very inexpertly in.

“How do I look?” She asked, shifting awkwardly and impatiently. “Do I have enough makeup? Do I look good? Will he like it? Should I--”

“Jeeze, hon, calm down. For one, you’re trying waaaay too hard.” Auggie said, standing and moving to her best friend. “You’re, like, super overdressed. This is Octy. You’re fine. Plus...Halloween party, girl! You don’t even have your costume on, yet. You’re just going to change again when we get to your place.”

Cassie looked over to June, to which the white-haired girl nodded.

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve never met Octavtian, but yeah, you’re getting really stressed over this. It’s your day, you should--”

Once again, June was interrupted, this time, by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Cassie froze like a deer in headlights.

There was a pause as car doors opened and closed, followed by the slam of a trunk. The other two watched Cassie as the front door opened.

“Auggie!?” Augusta’s Dad shouted from a couple rooms over. “We’re here!”

“We’re in the kitchen, Dad!” Auggie called back. Cassie tried to make a break for it out of the room, visibly, pale, but the shorter girl was rather suddenly blocking her way.

“Uh-uh. You’re staying right here, Cass.” Auggie said. “It’ll be fine.”

Cassie gulped, and nodded, right as Auggie’s brother and father walked into the room.

Auggie’s father had brown hair, blue eyes, and was moderately handsome, dressed in a button up shirt and a pair of grey slacks.

June barely noticed him.

Octavian Levey was not tall. He was slim, lithe, and had very short, sky-blue hair and almost pastel green eyes. He was pretty enough to give Jordy a run for his money, and was wearing an almost skin-tight grey t-shirt and blue jeans.

She was fairly certain she was drooling.

“Well, what have we here? June Hespia, I presume?” Octy said with a full, confident, charming voice. He took her hand and kissed it. “Octavian Levey, at your service.”

June’s cheeks were dark red. “Oh. Uh. He...Hello.”

Then, June was shoved out of the way by Cassie who flashed an obviously jealous glare before launching herself around Octavian.

“Oh Octy!” She said. Octavian took her, spun, and dipped her.

“Oh, darling Cassiopeia. How could I have neglected you?” He murmured. “Will you forgive a wayward fop such as I?”

“Of course, my beloved.” Cassie swooned. “I am, once again, yours.”

June, brain finally working, as vaguely aware of Auggie making loud gagging noises.

“Ignore my vulgar sibling, my love.” Octavian cooed. “She’s simply jealous that she has not a love like ours.”

“Kids, please.” Mr. Levey said, clearing his breath. “You can save the romance for after breakfast.” He held up a large box. “Hope none of you girls are opposed to doughnuts.”

****

Senine stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, lifted her shirt very slightly, and frowned.

A sideways V-shaped scar ran the length of her belly, from the upper left corner to the center of the other side, back to the lower left corner. It was bright and vivid, though not terribly deep. Not anymore.

It felt cold, though. There was a chill, twisting in her stomach. Senine was not exactly sure if it was nerves, anticipation, or something more sinister, as if the wound itself was remembering the freezing scythe blade that had made it in the first place.

She glanced at her bed, which was now basically covered in black costume scraps. Her shirt dropped down, covering her scar, and she moved to her bed.  
There was a quick knock on her door, followed by Faye bursting in, a big, warm, enthusiastic smile on her face. She was dressed in a long, slim, black dress, and her skin was made up to look nearly as pale as June. Her canines were long and sharp, and she was wearing long, pointy, black, fake nails.

“Are you ready...oh.” Faye said, drooping slightly. “Sorry, Senine. I shoulda waited.”

“It’s fine.” She gave Faye a closer look. “On an unrelated note, that’s a flagrant abuse of your powers.”

Faye closed her mouth and frowned. “Oh. Sorry. The fake teeth were real uncomfortable and--”

Senine rolled her eyes as she interrupted. “Faye. Sweetie. I was going to give you a high five. Not a lecture.”

“Oh. Can it be a hug?”

Senine let out a sigh that was far too dramatic for the occasion at hand and held out her arms and Faye rushed into the hug, squishing her foster sister tightly.  
“Jesus, this family is really hurting my cred.” She muttered with a smile.

***

Several doughnuts per girl later and most of a car-trip across town later, the group had shifted from the middle-class home of half of the Levey family, to a spacious, two-story house, behind a tall, ivy-wrapped, wrought iron gate in the nicest part of town.

June’s eyes widened when she saw it. “Holy heck. Cassie, are you rich?”

“No. Of course not.” She said, a bit defensively.

“What she means is, her parents are hella loaded.” Auggie added. Cassie blushed. Auggie was in the back, with Cassie and Octavian, while June sat in the passenger seat, next to a driving Julius.

Cassie continued to blush, and Octavian put an arm around her. “She’s my princess.”

Cassie got even brighter red.

“Wait, we finally get to embarrass Cassie?” June said, smiling. “You didn’t say we got a present, too.”

“I know, that was real nice of you, Cass.” Auggie added, grinning widely at her best friend, who was glaring at Auggie with a petulant frown.

“You’re both horrible!” Cassie pouted, slumping against Octy.

“Sorry, my love.” Octavian said, smiling sheepishly. “Any embarrassing story I could tell about Auggie, she could reflect back a hundred-fold.”

“It’s true.” The younger Levey said with a nod. Julius’s car approached the front gate, which was currently open, and slowly pulled through the drive. “We have a cease-fire.”

Julius, meanwhile, regarded the house with no small amount of awe, something his sister was sharing. 

“Holy crap, I think our old house could fit in here three times and there’d still be room.” June swore as the car pulled up to one of the many available spaces in the Schumacher drive.

“Three times at least.” 

The car pulled to a stop, and the girls piled out of it shortly afterwards. June took out her phone and was sure to take several pictures of the house, still very much in shock.

Auggie clapped her on the back. “Brace yourself, Junie. You haven’t even seen the inside, yet.”

“Wait.” Came a familiar voice behind them. June and Auggie turned, and saw Amber there, with just about the same, if not larger, amount of awe that June had. She was holding a small package, and was wearing a pair of jeans and a winter coat over a t-shirt. “This is actually the real place. People--who go to our school--actually live in houses like this.”

“I know, right?” June replied. “We didn’t think you’d make it, Amber. Did you bring a costume?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “You should be glad I brought a present. Really? Costumes? We’re thirteen. That’s grade-schooler stuff.”

“Hey, guys, Amber’s being really unfun! What a surprise!” Auggie teased.

“And Auggie’s a tremendous dork. What a surprise.” Amber rolled her eyes. “Can we just get this over with?”

“It’s good to see you, too.” June said with a smile, which seemed to make Amber even more frustrated. “Come on, let’s see where the presents--”

She had started to turn, and then stopped when she spotted Cassie and Octy, standing right where they had gotten out of the car and soulfully looking in each other’s eyes, wind blowing in their hair--and only their hair, as it was an otherwise still day--posed as if they were on a period romance novel cover.

“Oh, get a room!” Amber and Augusta said simultaneously.

***

Some time later, June was in one of four full bathrooms in the Schumacher household. She was putting on the finishing touches of her costume--this year, she was going as a wolf-girl--torn flannel shirt and torn broom skirt, as well as a black claw on each fingertip. She had a set of fake teeth to wear, and was currently finishing up her makeup--darker around the eyes, with lines in makeup pen to make her jaw seem longer and leaner. Fluffy white fur framed her cheeks, leading back to prominent mutton chops.

There was a knock on the door, and June called out, “It’s open!”

Immediately after that, Faye opened the door. June turned, almost said something, and then say Faye in her vampire outfit. She was glad there was currently fake fur on her cheeks, as it very comfortably hid her blush.

“Oh wow! You look great, Junie!” Faye gave her a very big, very enthusiastic hug. “That’s a good look on you!”

“Yeah! I mean, thanks!” June squirmed out of the hug. “You, too! Though, it sort of seems we probably should be in each other’s costumes.”

“That’s the good part of Halloween, though! Being someone you aren’t for a bit!” She had a big, wide smile, but June could not help but feel it had a certain forced quality to it. Faye pulled away from the hug and took June’s hand. “C’mon! I think there’s food, now!”

June did love food, so she decided to drop it, and allowed herself to be led through the house. She was still in awe about how big it was--Auggie had been right, the view from without had nothing on the view from within. In addition, she had been somewhat eager to note that Cassie even had a pool, in back.

A pair of small bedsheet ghosts ran past them, giggling and cackling as they went, and trailing a rather thick path of mud in their wake. A tall, statuesque, blonde woman dressed in a rather expensive looking business suit followed behind them in close pursuit, shouting, “Castor! Pollux! Get back here right this moment, young men! You are getting in progressively more trouble the longer you escape!”

“Cassie’s mom?” June asked. The pair of them reached a dining room that was roughly half the size of June and Julius’s apartment. Cassie was at the head of a long table, the bulk of which was taken up by a cake that was probably at least three feet tall and equally that wide. She was dressed in a golden dress, designed to evoke Ancient Egypt. She had faux Kohl lines made up on her, as well as a whole mess of gold jewelry to complete the Cleopatra look, which, in order to preserve June’s sanity, she assumed were only costume.

“And her little brothers. Virgo and Cygnus should be around, too.”

June paused. “Wait, or those two boys or girls?”

“Girls!”

“Wow, her parents do not care at all what gender name their kids get, do they?”

“Huh?” 

“Nevermind.” June sighed. 

“...Hey, Junie?” Faye said, eyes downcast. “Can I...can we talk for a sec? Alone?”

“I...” June did not know what was going on. She cursed every possibility that her thirteen year old mind provided. “Yeah, sure! I guess. What’s up?”

They were more or less to themselves, in a corner by one of the many doors leading into the dining room. Faye glanced around regardless, however, and pulled June a bit farther away from everyone else. “It’s about Senine.”

June was starting to learn that hearing one’s sort-of-significant other say one’s crush’s name was a very quick way to cause panic. “O-oh? What about her?”

“Yeah, what about me?”

June jumped and spun around, and saw Senine right behind her. June’s first thought was that Senine must have been cold, because, wow, she would have thought she would have worn some leggings or stockings with that super short skirt. She was dressed in a black and purple cheerleading uniform, complete with a pair of pompoms. Her short hair was up in a pair of small, tight pigtails. 

“Oh. Hey. Senine.” June gulped. 

“Hey. What’s up?” She asked, mostly looking at Faye. A significant look was being exchanged, the meaning of which was impossible for June to exactly determine.

“O-oh.” Faye looked at the ground and shuffled her feet. “Nothin’, it’s just--”

“You!”

The three of them turned and saw Cassie, standing up and striding towards them in her full faux Egyptian glory. She pointed an accusing finger at Senine. “How dare you show up here, today!”

“Oh, excuse me.” Senine said, rolling her eyes. “How dare I show up for a friend’s birthday. I’m just an awful person, I guess.”

“You knew that Octavian was going to be here!”

“....Yes?” She replied. “He’s one of my best friends?”

Cassie’s jaw opened, and then shut as her eyes narrowed. “Yes, and you broke his heart!”

“Hey, guys, what’s the yell--” Auggie started to ask as she entered the room and noticed the whole spectacle. “--holy crap Senine is here.”

“I...I have to level with you, here, Cassie. I have honestly no idea what you’re talking about.”

Auggie and Cassie looked to each other, and then to Senine. They both started to talk at once, paused, and looked back at each other.

“You do it. I just can’t deal with this right now.” Cassie put her face in her hands.

“...Wait.” Senine said, and then started laughing. “Oh my God, Octy is so dumb. He never told you guys, did he?”

“...Never told us what?” Auggie asked, looking slightly confused.

“Octy and I mutually broke up. On friendly terms. That whole big confrontation thing was his idea. He wanted a big theatrical thing so that everyone knew we were through.” Senine shrugged. “He was supposed to let you guys know.”

Augusta looked at Cassie, who was dumbfounded, and then back to Senine. “But...you cheated on him!”

“Shorty, I kissed Anita Amano once, and he knew, and was mostly okay with it. We’d all-but-broken up by then, anyway. I was already getting crucified by the rumors, so, hell, we thought we might as well play it up.”

I....” Auggie sighed. “I want to argue with you but honestly that is so Octy.”

“Right?”

Cassie was massaging her forehead. Faye moved over to her and patted her on the back. “I cannot believe this.”

It was then that Octavian entered the room, dressed as the Antony to Cassie’s Cleopatra. He glanced at everyone in the room in turn before hurrying over to Cassie.

“My love, whatever is the matter?” He asked, without a trace of irony in his voice.

“You....you...!” Cassie then put her head in her hands and started earnestly sobbing.

“Shh, shh, darling.” He brushed her cheek with his hand and smiled. This earned an “AHEM” from the entryway, where Cassie’s mother briefly appeared only to glare before the sound of something crashing and breaking sent her rushing down the hall again. He hastily retracted his hand, and then knelt next to her. “Whatever trespass I’ve committed, I apologize.”

She sniffled and looked him in the eyes. “You never told me that you breaking up with Senine was just a show! I’ve been hating her for months because of it! Augusta as well!”

“It’s true.” Auggie chimed in.

“Now you’ll just have to hate me for my personality.” Senine said as she leaned against the wall near June, who was mostly just watching the spectacle with confusion.

“I’ve been a terrible bore.” Octavian murmured, first glancing over his shoulder and then stroking Cassie’s cheek again. “I get so carried away in things like that.” Amber, who was seated nearby, mumbled something about that not being a surprise. “Won’t you ever forgive me?”

“Oh, Octy!” Cassie launched herself out of her chair and wrapped her arms around him. “Of course I do.”

“So, drama queens.” Senine called out. “Are we actually going to start eating, or do we have to wait for you two to get married and have your first few kids before dinner?”

“THANK you.” Amber said from her chair.

Cassie blushed slightly and rose from her embrace. “I suppose we should get started. I’ll ask the chef to bring in the pizzas, then presents, then cake.”

 

A good dozen pizzas, all made locally in Cassie’s parents’ kitchen, were brought in, and were, in the end, only half consumed, with June, Faye, and Amber putting away more than any of the others. Cassie’s siblings, occasionally, ran through the room in pairs, now four bedsheet ghosts (though two had fairy wings, one out of each pair), with Cassie’s parents in hot pursuit each time.

Finally, it came to the second most anticipated point of the night: The presents.

“It was short notice, so, don’t except anything great from me.” Amber mumbled, and pushed a small box towards Cassie.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” Cassie said with a smile, and opened the package. There was a book inside, the first in the _Heart of Dread_ fantasy series. Her smile grew wider. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to check these out, at some point. Thank you very much, Amber.”

Amber grabbed another slice of pizza and pretended not to acknowledge that. She mumbled something that might have been a “You’re welcome.”

Faye jumped up next, and gave Cassie a big, rectangular box. “I remember you thinking about buying this!” Cassie opened it, and found a rather nice cardigan that was only a shade of green darker than Cassie’s hair.

“I am very glad that you remembered!” She gave Faye a large smile, and set the box aside.

“I don’t get a lot of money.” June said, a little awkwardly, as she handed Cassie a small box. “And I bought that shirt the other week and totally wasn’t thinking. Sorry.”

Cassie opened the box, and saw two small stud earrings, tipped with a green stone.

“It’s not, like, quality gold, or nice stones. But, I thought you might like them?”

“They’re lovely, June. Really.” Cassie said, getting up to hug her friend. “I have all the fancy jewelry I can wear and then some. What matters more to me is that you gave it to me.”

“Yeah.” June smiled a bit awkwardly. “Okay.”

“Alright, alright.” Auggie stood up, then. “Let’s get to my gift, because I know Octy’s just waiting for his chance to show all us up.”

“I have no idea, dear sister, whatever you could be talking about.” Octavian said, a crafty grin plain on his face.

“Yeah. Right.” Augusta stuck her tongue out at him, and handed Cassie an odd, tall package. Cassie opened it carefully, and then smiled brighter than anything else before had made her when she saw what was inside.

“You got me another orchid!”

“I swear to God, Cass, I have no idea how you can get so excited with a new orchid every year, and how you’re surprised every time.” Auggie rolled her eyes, but she had a grin to match Cassie’s. “But, since you’re my best friend and all, I thought I’d get you...” She handed her friend another oddly shaped package. “This. A different plant, too.”

Cassie opened it, and was rewarded by a small bonsai tree. Her eyes went wide. “It’s such a cute tree! Oh, and you have tending tools, too! Oh, Augusta...” Cassie was crying happy tears as she embraced Auggie, who hugged her right back. “You are my best friend. I love you so.”

“Heh, I know! But, hey, less tears, right? You gotta save them for Octy’s probably really nifty present.”

Cassiopeia smiled, and dried her eyes as she turned to Octavian. “Beloved?”

“Well, Senine helped, just a tad, on this one.” Octavian removed an envelope from somewhere within his toga. “In that she knew how many to get.”

Cassie took the envelope, and opened it. She pulled out a few slips of paper, and read them. She then looked up at Octavian, her jaw dropping and her eyes wide.

He responded with a grin.

Auggie stood on her tip-toes and looked over Cassie’s shoulder. She sighed, and rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. You win, Octy.”

“What is it?” Faye asked, also hopping up to look over Cassie’s other shoulder.

“Octavian...got me tickets. Enough for the five of us junior rangers to...to go see. The Shining Stars.” Cassie then hugged Octavian tightly. “Thank you so much I love you.”

“AHEM.”

Cassie immediately pulled out of the hug. “Sorry, Mother.”

“Oh. My. God.” Amber shot up from her seat and moved to look at them. “Oh my God I love the Shining Stars they’re my favorite band.”

“Mine as well!” Cassie gushed, turning to Amber. “Oh, you have to come with, won’t you? They’re playing around Christmas, it’s going to be so amazing!”

“I can come?!” Amber exclaimed, and then hugged Cassie. Both girls made very shrill, excited noises.

Octavian watched them with a smile. “I thought it would be best for you to take all of your friends with. I asked Senine to tell me how many tickets to make it.”

Cassie released Amber, glanced to the doorway, saw her mother still there, and did not hug her boyfriend. “You’re so sweet and considerate and amazing!”

“I’m just happy to make you happy, little flower.”

“Those...are like, that group of girls about our age? With the twins?” June asked, looking to Faye and Auggie for confirmation.

“Yep! They’re okay, I think.” Auggie shrugged.

“Yeah! I like them okay! Their songs are really catchy.” Faye added.

“Also, the whole band is Junior Rangers.”

Everyone in the room, save for Ocavian, looked to Senine in shock.

“...Did you guys not know that? Yeah. Did...you think Kara May’s hair sparkled like that because of special effects? Even in live shows? Naw, their manager is their equivalent for Vember, for us.” Senine said, tone casual. “They wander around and help out and solve problems wherever they go. It’s a neat little setup.”

“...That’s so cool.” Amber mumbled. Cassie nodded in response, and then said, “Wait, do you think...” She turned to the redhead next to her. “Oh, Amber, perhaps Mr. Vember could arrange that we could meet them!”

Amber’s jaw dropped. “No way.”

“I hope you guys have fun at that concert!” June interrupted.

Cassie turned to June, looking confused. “Are you not going to come? There’s still plenty of time.”

“Yeah, but...I don’t really listen to, you know. Popular stuff.” June shifted awkwardly. “I think I might have heard them a few times but--”

The green haired girl was suddenly right in front of June. She gave June big, pleading eyes that gave Faye a run for her money. “Please, June? I would love if all of my friends could attend.”

“I-I...” June stuttered.

“It’ll be fun, Junie!” Faye said, slipping next to Cassie and taking her hand. “Plus, their guitarist is really good and you like that, right?”

“...None of you play fair.” June pouted, hanging her head. “Fine. I’ll go.”

Cassie hugged her, and then Faye joined the hug, and June was blushing over the whole ordeal. “Oh, thank you so much. You’re a good friend, June.” Cassie smiled, and then turned back to the table. “Alright, now, cake!”

****

Significantly later, June was heading back from the restroom after encountering the negative effects of too much punch. She was still in a rather large amount of awe, just from the size of the house--every time she thought she had walked the length of it, she found more rooms, more hallways. It amazed her that she even knew someone this rich, let alone was allowed to bring her poor self into the house.

June wandered the house in awe, and eventually found herself at a glass door, currently open, leading onto the back porch. She stepped out onto it, mostly wanting to take in the night sky from the yard, when she was stopped by the soft sounds of crying. She focused on that, despite the fact that there was a massive, empty pool in front of her, and saw Cassie, sitting on the edge of the porch, wearing her new cardigan and having her arms wrapped around her torso.

“...Hey.” June said, and walked towards her friend. “Do you need to be left alone?”

Cassie sniffled and shook her head. June sat down next to her, looking off into the stars above. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“...It’s. Everyone’s so nice to me. I’m not sure I deserve it.” She looked down at her hands. “I try to be in control. I try to keep my passions in check, but it’s difficult. In truth...I’m wild. Like Gemini. Did you know, that’s why my parents watch Octavian and I so closely. It’s not because they’re worried about what he will do. He’s very charming, and he’s promised to not even kiss me until we’re both in High School, and to not...do other things until we’re safely eighteen. It’s me, they’re worried about sinning. Like before. I have so much energy, and so many desires, and if I act on them...aren’t I just Gemini, then?”

June put an arm around Cassie’s shoulder, and hugged her as best she could.

“Thank you.” Cassie wiped away a few tears. “Augusta, she...Gemini and I treated her dreadfully, but she followed us around anyway. So desperate to be our friend, and we abused that. But....but when Gemini snapped, she, she was there for me. Always there. I don’t deserve her friendship, for how I treated her, but she’s...never called me out on it. The first orchid she bought me, she bought because I essentially ordered her to, but...she keeps giving them to me, three, since Gemini was locked up. Because she knows I love them so much.”

“You’re really scared of her being free, aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid that I’ll become who I was...not really so long ago.” Cassie sighed. “This seems practiced, but I’ve not been so restrained for long. My family’s not even been this...well off, for long. If a child under the care of the Stellar Rangers dies, or becomes a criminal like Gemini, their parents are gifted a quite large financial sum. We were decently upper class, before, but....now we’re rich, at my sister’s expense.”

“Hey. Cassie. You’re a good person. You know how I know that?” June squeezed her. “You care about this stuff. You want to be good and make up for stuff like that. That matters. That counts.”

Cassie rested her head against June’s slightly higher shoulder. “Thank you, again. You’re a good friend, June. I’m glad you did not get to know the old me.”

They sat like that for a while, until Julius fetched them. Midnight, after all, was rapidly approaching.   And, with it, the Day of the Dead.


	13. Chapter Thirteen:  Day of the Dead, Part 2

All of the Junior Rangers, the two full Rangers--Octavian and Senine, the senior Ranger--Mr. Vember, Leah, and Julius, all stood outside the single occupied cell in the base of the tower. Cassie was holding two hands--one of each of the Levey siblings. Senine was standing up, next to Vember, her sledge out and resting against her shoulder.

June stood in back. She had no idea how to feel about this moment, and also, no idea what to expect from the much dreaded Schumacher twin. Faye stood near to her, her hand in June’s. She seemed worried, and to June, that was almost as damning as everyone else’s words. Someone Faye was not happy to see was not someone June trusted.

“Twelve-oh-three.” Mr. Vember said somberly. He lifted his hand and gestured. As he did so, the cell door slowly slid open.

Out of the door strode a girl who looked exactly like Cassie. She wore a bright red tank top and a matching pair of leather pants that she was far too young to actually pull off. In her right hand, she held a black-hafted scythe with a pale white blade.

Gemini’s eyes went immediately for Senine, whose eyes narrowed at the young teen.

“Aw, if it’s not dead girl walking! I missed you! How’s the stomach?” 

Senine visibly cringed, and lowered her hand to her belly. Wet red now stained Senine’s hand, which made Gemini grin wider.

“You DO remember me! I was worried, I have to admit.”

“Gemini. Stop this at once.” Vember insisted, locking eyes with her.

Gemini, however, broke eye contact and walked right past her. “Oh, lighten up. I’m not going to kill her! I just want her to remember that she’s still just second best.” She approached Cassie, now, who opened her mouth as if to speak. However, her twin walked right past her, right over to June.

“Hey there.” Gemini purred. “I’ve heard a lot about you, though, you’re really not that impressive in person! I could probably just filet you right now and your heart wouldn’t even blow up a little bit.”

June was at a complete loss of what to say. Faye, however, thought this was a perfect time to bare her teeth--now a mouth full of fangs--and growl. Gemini’s attention then turned towards her.

“Well, look who it is! Faye Burrey. I missed you! Mostly, I missed tormenting you, but, that’s basically the same thing, right?” She smiled in an approximation of warmth. “Oh, but you have a power star! That’s nice, that’ll make it a whole lot more fun.” Gemini finally turned towards Cassie, and pointed her scythe at her twin. “Right, sis?”

“If you’re done being theatrically evil.” Cassie replied, narrowing her eyes.

Gemini rolled her. “Evil? Really? Isn’t you holding Levey’s hand like you’re best friends just as bad?”

“Don’t you shut up?”

Gemini paused, and looked to the source of the exclamation. Amber was sitting on a ledge, rifle across her lap, and yawning. “I mean, like, I get it? You’re pissed and stuff? But, being pissed doesn’t make you any less of a bitch.”

“Wow, Amber, speaking from experience?” Gemini countered.

“Duh?”

Gemini faltered, and June cracked a slight grin. The twin’s smile returned shortly after that, however. “So, are you still a super homophobic bitch? That must be awkward, on a team with these two!” She gestured to June and Faye.

Amber’s eyes narrowed. “Is that seriously all you have? Like, no wonder you have to threaten to stab people, you’ve got no insult game.”

“Red, you never fail to make me remember why I like you so much.” Senine said with a smirk.

Gemini’s grip tightened on her scythe, but she moved into a more relaxed stance. “You know, I really shouldn’t vent at you, Dead Girl. You don’t have all that long, after all! If only I could take the credit for that.”

Faye began to growl again. Gemini turned to her, grinning. “What, did you want some? Your girlfriend might get jealous. Or, she would, if she could take her eyes off the ass of Dead Girl for a second.”

“Leave her alone.” June and Senine said at the exact same time.

Gemini looked as though she was going to say something else, but at that moment, Cassie strode forward and took her hand. “Should we not be celebrating your birthday, sister?”

“Oh, but sis, I thought I was! I’m just getting to know your friends, after all.” She looked over her twin’s shoulder. “But, you’re right. I should get to know your boyfriend, too. We both can, in fact, that could be fun.”

“As it turns out, dear, unfortunately, you’re a bit too young for me by approximately four minutes.” Octavian replied dryly. 

“That’s a shame.” Gemini purred. Cassie rolled her eyes, and started to drag her out of the room by her hand, Octavian in tow. Vember followed shortly after, as did Auggie.

Senine breathed out a sigh of relief, and banished her hammer. She moved over to the wall, and to a first aid kit fastened to it. She pulled up her shirt, causing Julius to look away suddenly and excuse himself to another room with Leah in tow. The wound on her stomach had re-opened, though it was still not very deep.

“Someone wrap me up.”

June wanted to be the one to immediately run to Senine, but Faye was there in a moment. In truth, June’s eyes were locked on the horrible wound. Senine could have easily died to a wound like that. June would have never met her, had that happened.

Faye removed the bandages from the first aid kit and started wrapping Senine’s slender torso. “Thanks. I’d do it, but, must’ve been too long since my last cig.” Senine lifted her hand, to show it was obviously shaking.

“Do you honestly think we’re fooled by that?” Amber asked from her perch. “You’re obviously terrified of her.”

“Yeah. Well, I could cut you open, and then see how calm you are around me.” The older teenager glanced over at me. “What do you think of the worse Schumacher?”

“She talks too much.”

“Right?” Amber added.

“No, it’s not...” June paused to collect her thoughts. “She does it on purpose. She wants to keep talking so we’re unbalanced. She’s planning something, and she wanted to frazzle us all so we wouldn’t guess what she was up to.”

“That’s Gemi.” Senine ruffled Faye’s hair as she did her third pass of bandages around her torso. “She’s smarter than she lets on. Between the two, Cassie’s more passionate and emotional, and Gemi’s more cold and calculating.”

“So....I guess I’ll ask, since everyone else is just dancing around it.” Amber chimed in. “She gave you that wound, right? That’s what she meant when she called you dead girl walking.”

“Yes. She sliced me open. No. That’s not where the nickname comes from.” Senine said. Faye looked up at Senine with big, watery eyes, before finishing up with the bandages and securing them. “I’m terminally ill.”

A chill twisted inside June’s chest. “W...hat?”

“My star isn’t a star. It died. It’s a black hole. The same thing that makes me so strong is literally eating me away. Best case scenario? I’m in a wheelchair by thirty. Bedridden by thirty-three. Dead by thirty-five. Most likely, I’m dead before I hit thirty.” Senine lowered her shirt. “And that’s that.”

June was not crying. She stared at Senine as though she had not quite heard those words. A coldness was spreading through her body, from the pit of her stomach up through her chest and limbs. “Wh...That’s. It’s not true, right? It’s just...a joke, right?”

“Oh, sweetie. Here.” Senine strode over to June and carefully hugged her. “It’s okay. I’ve pretty much come to terms with the bullshit that is in my life. On the plus, I get to have an awesome life most people would kill for in exchange for dying young.”

Faye popped up next to the hug and looked very ansty and upset. June and Senine pulled her into it. Amber watched very awkwardly.

“It’s going to be okay, June. I’m fine. That bitch can’t hurt me. My fate’s sealed and she knows it. I’m going to die young, yeah. But I’m going to die young and happy.” She murmured, petting June’s hair.

“...I guess we have that in common.” June said weakly. Senine laughed.

“No.” Faye said, suddenly. “No, you’re both going to live. We’ll find a way.”

“Faye, hon, there’s nothing--” Senine began.

“No! You’re both going to live.” Faye insisted. “We’ll find a way.”

“So, like, really hate to break up the...whatever this is, but, like..” Amber hopped out of the windowsill and started for the door. “You guys realize that you caught on to what Gemini did and, like...just let it happen? You guys got caught up in being all lovey and she’s alone with the people she wants to be alone with because you’re caught up on feelings.”

“...Oh God damnit.” Senine swore. “Red’s right.”

June went cold again, and the three hugging girls looked to the door. Amber put her hand on the knob and tried to turn it. It did not budge.

“...I can’t move the metal. It’s not reacting to me. It’s like...the metal’s dead.”

*****

Gemini smirked as Cassie pulled her around to face her. “Finally, we’re in much better company!” She glanced to Vember and Octavian. “Get rid of the men and it’ll be just like old times, right, Auggie? I hope you brought an orchid for me, too.”

“Shut it.” Augusta squeezed Cassie’s hand. “I don’t care about being your friend anymore, Gemi. Just...have a nice day out and leave us alone, okay?”

“Why would I do that?” Gemini attempted to look quizzically at Augusta, but her crafty smirk won out over it. “After all, I need my sister and my bestest friend ever to show me around school, tomorrow.”

Mr. Vember let out a pronounced sigh. Gemini grinned at him.

“I’m allowed to go to school, right?”

“Yes, Miss Schumacher. As a free girl, you are entitled to an education just as anyone else is. I can submit the necessary paperwork immediately if that is what you wish.”

“I do, in fact! I want to be in every class with my dear sister.” She put an arm around her twin, pushing Octavian out of the way in the process. “And my best friend, Auggie.”

“Gemini, you can’t come to school.” Cassie said. She shrugged her shoulders to try to remove her twin, but she just held on tighter.

“You heard Vember, ‘course I can! We’re going to spend the whole day together and have a great time.”

Cassie looked to the senior ranger for help. He cleared his throat and looked to Gemini. “Now, remember. You have to stay on your best behavior.”

“I’ll do you one better!” The twin released her less morally ambiguous sister and stepped towards her jailer. “If you guys have any problem with Stellos or his cronies--or other threats--I’ll help you take care of them.”

“And you will not violate the terms of your imprisonment?”

“Nope!”

Auggie interrupted. “You can’t be trusting her! She’s a huge jerk!”

“I’m hurt, Levey.”

“I wish!”

“Please, just...” Cassie looked down at the floor. “Fine. She can come to school. It’s fine.”

Gemini gave the assembled people a grin of triumph. Vember sighed once again, massaging his temples as though he had a headache. Octavian, with Gemini having abandoned Cassie’s side, found Cassie’s hand once again and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“You’ll go tomorrow, then. Be ready in the morning.” Mr. Vember said, very much sounding as though he did not like a single part of this.

Gemini smirked, and as she did, the door behind them fell open, and Amber, Faye, June, and Senine poured through, all with weapons summoned.

“Oh, sorry.” The smirk on Gemini’s face only got more self-satisfied as she saw the looks of distaste and annoyance on their faces. “Did I jam the door?”

****

June yawned, and rolled over in bed, the battle for sleep still being waged, despite threads of sunlight shining through her heavy blinds. Last night had been rather exhausting, and today promised to be even worse. None of what June had seen of Gemini had done anything but support every bad thing everyone said or seemed to think about her.

“You’re so cute when you sleep!”

June jerked fully awake and instinctively scooted back until her shoulder blades met the headboard. Gemini was in her room and sitting on the end of her bed, dressed in exactly what she was wearing last night, plus a pair of rather nice boots. “Really, you look barely like you’re a nuke waiting to happen.”

“What are you...” June shook off that question, and followed up with, “It doesn’t matter. Get out of my room.”

Gemini rolled her eyes. “I’m just here to talk! It’s not like I was taking locks of your hair in your sleep or anything.”

June immediately checked her hair to make sure none of it was missing.

“See? Look. We have a couple minutes before my sister and Levey show up. We have some time. There’s something I need to--”

June moved forward and started shoving Gemini. “Nope. Out. Not dealing with you.”

“It’s imp--”

“I don’t care. Out.”

“You’re not being reason--”

“Out.”

Gemini stood and moved for the door. “Fine! I can see where I’m not wanted. Just, remember I tried to tell you, so you can really think about how completely right I was.”

“That’s nice. Get out.”

Gemini opened the door with a wide, exaggerated gesture. When closed, she moved to the over side and leaned against it, ignoring the surprised and fearful look on Julius’s face. “So, Hespia, I don’t think you really understand the full measure of how utterly screwed you guys are. Fortunately, I do, because I’m the best. But, it’s okay that you don’t believe me, because I’m going to show you just how much you guys need me, today.”

A knock came at the front door. A few moments later, Auggie, Cassie, and Faye came into the small apartment, and straight for June’s door. Gemini’s wide grin mirrored Cassie’s deep scowl. “Oh, hey, sis. Sorry, I probably should’ve mentioned I was leaving early.”

“What are you doing here?” Cassie growled.

“I’m just letting June here know how much you guys need me.” Gemini stopped leaning against the door, just as it opened and June stepped out, in the middle of putting her long hair into pigtails. “I mean, do you even realize how many enemies you have?”

“And I suppose you know fully everything, of course.”

“Of course!”

“And you would just love to show us all how right you are.”

“Naturally.”

“And I further suppose this has something to do with why you wanted to come to school with us.”

Gemini beamed. “Wow, twins really do know each other really well!”

June tried to slip past Gemini, but Gemini stopped her with an arm around the waist. June made a squeaking noise, and Faye’s eyes immediately shot towards the offending limb. Both Faye and June’s bodies tensed. Gemini pretended she did not notice.

“But, yes. I’m going to show you all how unsafe you actually are.” Gemini pulled June closer to her, and rested her head against hers. June squirmed out of Gemini’s grip and stumbled to Faye, who quickly shoved June behind her and glared at Gemini.

Gemini, of course, pretended not to notice. “Oh, it’s okay, June. I mean, we both know you’re going to be mine one day, so, you can go ahead and--”

“ _Excuse_ me???” June stepped around Faye. “I’m _what_???”

“But, anyway, let’s go to--” Gemini’s hand was suddenly grabbed by Cassie. Cassie turned to the others and said. “I’m going to go ahead with her. I’m so sorry about this.”

Cassie pulled Gemini out of the apartment, and to the elevator. She hammered the button, which caused the door to immediately open. She then pulled her sister inside and punched the button for the first floor, finally turning to her twin, who still had the same self-satisfied grin. “What the Hell was that?”

“Oh! Well, June has a lot of power, and it’s probably not safe for me to have it, so, I’m going to have June.” Gemi said with as much nonchalance as she could muster.

“I was not aware you swung that way.” The elevator doors rattled open, and Cassie stepped out, still dragging Gemini with her.

“Oh, Cassie. My sexuality is power.” Gemini finally decided to move under her own power as she followed along with Cassie towards school. It was a bright, shining day, today, a rarity in mid-autumn.

“Of course it is.” Cassie’s voice shook very slightly. She was moving very briskly, eyes forward, stride even.

“It’s not like yours isn’t.” The other twin kept stride, now, pulling her wrist from Cassie’s grasp. “Octavian has the power to make you feel better. If it had been the other Levey or Burrey or even Septus you would probably be head over heels for them, instead.”

“That’s one, not true, and two, if it were, not the same thing.”

“If you say so. Of course, I don’t. I say I’m right, and I also say that you know I’m right.” Gemini took point, now. Cassie saw her twin’s lead and moved to keep pace.

Gemini sped very slightly up. “I missed you, you know. I miss all the hell we used to get up to! Don’t you miss it? I think there are still teachers that get nightmares from us.”

“Whether or not I miss it,” Cassie replied in a cool voice. “Is not the point. What matters is that we do not act on that.”

Her sister’s smile widened. “That would be a whole lot more convincing if you believed it at all.”

Cassie started to jog towards the school. Gemini followed suit. Cassie then broke into a run, with her sister following close behind her.

 

Five minutes later, both Schumacher sisters came to a stop right outside the middles school, both breathing heavily, both sweating bullets in the chilly mid autumn air. 

“I won.” Gemini said between pants.

“Doubtful.” Cassie started towards the building.

“Doubtful? Maybe you weren’t paying attention, but I blew you out of the water.”

“Perhaps in your mind.”

“And also in reality.”

“Again, doubtful.”

“It’s not a thing to doubt. I won.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and went in through the glass doors in front of the school, her sister right on her trail. As they moved, Gemini pulled to a sudden stop. She stood in the hall, oblivious to the many eyes that were, little by little, finding her.

Her twin turned on a dime and glared at her. “What, now?”

Gemini lifted a finger to silence Cassie, and then turned towards the Girls’ bathroom, slightly further down the hall. “Come on. I have to show you something.”

“What, another tattoo?”

“No.” Gemini stepped back towards Cassie, and then leaned in to her, whispering in her ear. “There was someone else with us, in the woods. There’s someone in your school who’s not what she seems. I’m going to show you her.”

Cassie gave her sister a very skeptical look.

“I’m serious, Cassie. This is what I mean. You need me because I know more than you guys do. I’m smarter and stronger than anyone except maybe--maybe Vember.” Gemini took Cassie’s hand and started to pull her towards the bathroom. Cassie very grudgingly followed.

“Be ready. We might need to take her down when we blow her cover.” They entered the bathroom.

There were a small group of girls here, mostly cheerleaders, mostly Eighth Graders. Key among them was the most popular girl in school, sitting on the counter between sinks. She was laughing at something Bernadette had said, right before the twins had entered. Her laughter trailed off when she saw both Schumachers enter. 

“Gemini? Is that you?” Lynneth Ursula Card asked, no bothering to get up. “Are you, what, on parole or something?”

Gemini’s eyes sparkled. Cassie, on the other hand, felt very, very confused. She looked to the half-dozen girls, here, and then at her sister. Gemini, however, either did not notice or did not care about her sister’s skepticism.

“Something like that. I just wanted to say hello!” Gemini’s grin turned into a smirk. “Lanessa de Vran Sie.”

Before anyone could quite register those words, Lynneth, expression never once faltering, raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. Every single girl in the room, save Gemini and Lynneth, froze where they were, expressions first freezing, and then going glassy and vacant. “Oh no. It appears my secret is out.” Lynneth’s tone was one of quiet amusement. “Whatever will I do?”

Gemini skipped a beat, and then said. “You’re going to tell me what you want with the Penumbra, and then you’re going to leave here, or die. Either or, really.”  
Lynneth who was Lanessa stared at Gemini for a moment, blinked, and then burst out laughing. She doubled over, holding her chest as she erupted into a fit of hysterical giggling that only seemed to get more intense the more time occurred.

“S...Stop laughing.” Gemini’s voice cracked only briefly. “I’m serious.”

“Oh, dear, I’m sorry! That was awfully rude of me.” Lanessa took a few calming breaths and smiled, softly and calmly, at Gemini. “It’s just...you’re so laughably less than I am. It’s honestly adorable, this entire...whatever this is. A threat? Extortion?”

“It can be either. You’re not welcome here. Once that Stellos idiot’s taken care of and they realize how much they need me, I’m going to be free all the time. The Penumbra’s going to be in my hands. You won’t last much longer than that.”

“I’m so sorry, Gemini. I know you have a lot invested in this whole...I’m sorry, I’m still not entirely sure what your plan is going to be. Are you going to...seduce June? And somehow her power will be yours? 

“She’ll see who the winning side is.”

Lanessa’s slight smirk only amplified the condescension in her voice. “And you think that’s you?”

“I know it’s me. I have power over death itself.”

“How frightening.”

Gemini’s eyes narrowed. “You really should take me more seriously.”

“Oh, but I am. I am treating you very slightly more seriously than I take any other mortal.” Lanessa shrugged. “But, really, sweetie...you’re so out of your element it’s laughable. Do you even know what the Penumbra is? Do you even know what I am?”

“It’s a weapon, forged from half of two powerful stars. And you’re a star vampire.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“I do. I’ve been studying.”

“Clearly not enough, dear.” Lanessa crossed her legs. “To tell the truth, Gemini, if you had actually wanted to threaten me, you would have told the others about me before confronting me. But, of course, they don’t trust you. I wonder why that is.”

“I told--”

“No one. No one knows that you know. You did not even write it down.” Lanessa’s blue eyes flashed. “I could snap your neck, right now, and no one would question it, because I would tell them not to question it. There would be no evidence you ever knew anything about me.”

Gemini’s scythe appeared in her hands. Lanessa’s posture and expression did not change. “It must be difficult, having a desire to kill and master death, while using a weapon that cannot kill.”

“...What are you talking about?” Gemini’s hands tightened on her weapon.

“That scythe. It can only kill that which is destined to die by it.” Lanessa lifted her nails and eyed them with an appraising eye. “I imagine it is to prevent you from using your powers from changing too much of what you see. It’s standard, really, for those with stars of death.”

“What makes you think you’re not?” 

“Because I am beyond death.” The star vampire filed her very sharp looking nails and did not bother looking up. “You cannot kill me. Nothing can. Nothing does. I am beyond the shackles of mortality. I am. I will ever be.”

“Maybe we should check.” Gemini growled, stepping forward with her scythe raised.

Lanessa made no move to stop her. Her attention remained on her nails.

Gemini did not yet charge. “What makes you think you’re going to win? I have plans. The Penumbra’s going to be mine, and I’m going to run this town. This planet. I’m smart and powerful. More than you know.”

“I know exactly how powerful you are, dear. It’s part of being a star vampire.” Lanessa blew on her nails. “And as for the Penumbra being yours? Sorry, I’m afraid it’s spoken for.”

“I don’t see your name on it.”

“Oh, hon.” Lanessa’s smile, her genuine smile, made Gemini’s heart skip a bit, and a blush reach her cheeks. “It may not have my name on it, literally. But, figuratively? June, you, Cassie, the Penumbra, this town, this world? Every inch of all of you is branded by me. Lanessa de Vran Sie covers every single molecule of space here. You’re mine, sweetie. You always have been.”

Gemini took a step forward, and, with a smooth cutting motion, drove the Thana Scythe into Lanessa’s chest. The blade tore through her bloodlessly, and protruded out her back. 

The star vampire did not even look down. “Tell me, Mistress of Death. What end do you see for me?”

Gemini stumbled back, removing the blade from Lanessa’s chest. There was no wound, not even in her clothing. She still was not even looking at the outcast Junior Stellar Ranger.

“I...I don’t understand. You don’t. There’s not...”

“I know, dear.”

Gemini looked to Lanessa, eyes wide and glistening with tears. She said in a small, fearful voice, “Are you going to kill me?”

“I would really rather not. I’m just going to erase this, and my real self, from your mind. I’ll think of a suitable scenario for you to have been here.” She tapped the file thoughtfully against her chin. “I wonder if I could arrange a tender sibling moment, for the two of you.”

Gemini banished her scythe. “...Okay. I lose. But, it’s kind of funny....I mean, that you even think that you can handle the Penumbra.”

Lanessa paused, and then smirked. “What are you talking about?”

“Only the bearer of Nemesis can even hope to contain it or use it right. Why do you think I’m so intent on controlling June and not the weapon itself? Even I know that I can’t use it myself, and I’m not ‘beyond death’.” Gemini shrugged. “You’re going to lose.”

Lanessa’s expression did not falter. “Maybe. And if I do? If you and your “friends” win? Nothing will be able to stop the reckoning that will come back on you.”  
Then she snapped her fingers.

*****

“Hey, Auggie.” June said as she, Faye, Augusta, and now Amber all walked towards school. “You’re pretty quiet. As in, I don’t think you’ve said anything since we’ve left the apartment.”

Auggie sighed. “It’s just...she thinks she’s so great, you know? She’s always been all ‘I’m so much better than you, Levey’. I’m sick of it. It’s been months! I wish she’d just...let me go, you know? Leave me alone.”

“Trust me, she’s all talk, and, like, not even good talk.” Amber said, something along the lines of a comforting tone in her voice.

“No, that’s the thing!” Auggie made a frustrated growl. “Gemini’s not all talk. She’s...she’s always been kind of a prodigy. Cassie’s smart, but Gemini’s smart and also an ace at anything she decides to do. I used to think that the two of them were really freaking awesome! God, you shoulda seen me, fawning over them, tripping on Gemini’s heels. I let her walk all over me! Now...I don’t even know what the heck I want from her.”

Faye was wearing one of her most worried looks. She broke away from hand-contact with June and scampered over to hug Augusta. “You’re way better than her in my book, Auggie!”

“Heh, thanks, Faye-Faye.”

June had a very thoughtful expression. “...Hey, Auggie. Maybe it would help if you actually beat her at something?”

Auggie looked hopeful for a moment, and then immediately looked down at the street. “But...I’m not better than her at anything.”

June‘s thoughtful look turned into a crafty smirk. “How many moves until you put Gemini in mate?”

The blue haired girl stared at her for a moment, before a slow smile crossed her face. “You know, I’m actually not sure. Why don’t we find out?”

******

Gemini was sobbing on the front steps of the school, with Cassie sitting awkwardly next to her.

“I...I don’t _want_ to go back.” She wailed, and then pulled Cassie into a hug. Cassie stiffened in the hug, and put a tentative hand on her back. “I don’t want to go back. It was months and it’s going to be a year and I don’t _want_ to.”

“You almost killed Senine. You tried to kill...so many people.” She rested her head against her twin’s. “You have attempted crimes no one must ever attempt.”

Gemini turned to Cassie. “Do you remember when we were children? The outfits we were put in? How mother and father loved to parade us around? How adorable we were?”

Cassie went quiet.

“I just wanted to be respected. As twins, we were a conversation piece. Do you remember mother yelling at us the first time, for tearing up our bedroom? Do you remember the rush we felt.” 

Cassie looked away. “I do.”

“Do you remember the feel of the needle, and the sound father made when he saw the result?”

“...It’s not the same as the death, Gemi.”

“Senine was lording it over us. How powerful she was.”

“She was not and you know it.”

“Hey.” Came the sudden voice of Lynneth Ursula Card. She was in the doorway behind them, practiced concern in her expression. “You okay, Gemi? You ran out of the bathroom pretty quickly.”

Gemini got a bashful smile on her face. “I’m fine, Lynn. Thanks, I’m glad someone cares.”

“She is just a bit anxious about returning to Juvenile Hall.” Cassie said, an easy grin coming to her face when she saw Lynneth.

“That’s understandable.” Lynneth snapped her fingers, and the twins shared a distant expression.

“Tell me you love me.” She ordered.

“We love you, Lynneth.” They said in unison and with vacant grins.

“Tell me that I’m beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful, Lynnteh.” 

Lanessa-who-was-Lynneth smiled widely. “Cassie, do you love me more than Octavian?”

“Yes, Lynneth.”

“Gemini, do you love me more than you love power?”

“Yes, Lynneth.”

Lynneth felt the approach of the Penumbra. She snapped her fingers again. The two twins snapped out of attention, and Lynneth knelt down beside Gemini. “Hey, sweetie, I know stuff’s been hard, so, if you need to talk at all, I’m here, okay? You can send me a letter from juvie if you need to.”

“Y-yeah.” Gemini was now full-on-blushing. “Sure.”

“Gemini!” Auggie called, and zoomed into the scene on her rollerblades. She skidded to a halt in front of the steps as the other three sprinted up behind her. June was breathing heavily. Amber and Faye were not phased.

“You are in, like, the worst shape.” Amber said, prodding the albino girl.

“Shut...up....Amber...” She heaved.

“This is hilariously pathetic.” Gemini looked over them. “Is there a point or are you just trying to cheer me up?”

Auggie smirked. “I challenge you to a game of chess.”

Gemini smirked, and then burst into laughter. “Oh, God, really, Levey? Chess? Do you realize how much smarter I am than you?”

Auggie’s smirk faltered for a moment. She looked over to Cassie, who nodded to her, and then smirked even wider than before. “Check in seven, mate in nine.”

“Excuse me?” Gemini let out a bark of laughter. “Levey, sweetie...this is pathetic. You know this is pathetic, right? You aren’t going to beat me. You can’t. You’re talking a big game, but you’re going to fold like you did before.”

Augusta closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. “Check in seven. Mate in nine. Play me at lunch.”

“I almost don’t want to. You only have so many hopes and dreams left.”

Amber coughed. This cough sounded suspiciously like a chicken noise.

Gemini shot her a brief, dirty look. She looked back at Auggie. “Okay, Levey. I’ll humor you. Let’s crush your last hopes.”

Lynneth watched this with a great deal of amused interest. “Can I play winner?”

*****

“Two moves until checkmate.”

Gemini looked balefully up at Augusta. “It’s considered poor form to taunt during chess, you know.”

She moved her knight. “No, wait.” Gemini said, and started to move her hand towards the piece.

“Wow, trying to take back your move after taking your hand off the piece? That’s super poor form, Gemini.” The blue haired girl made a tsking sound.  
Gemini gave her a dirty look, and then moved her knight back, moving a pawn in its place.

Auggie instantly moved a piece the moment Gemini moved. “Check and mate.”

She stared at the board, eyes wide. “No, that’s. Wait. How.”

“You play too offensively, Gemi. All I really had to do was give you my queen and you walked right into my victory.” Auggie smiled. “You were a bit better than I thought you would be, but you’re basically the same skill level as Cassie is. Which is good, you’d both rock someone who’s not a champ like me,”

“But I’m smarter than you.” Gemini said, her hands shaking. “I’m better than you. You can’t beat me.”

“Just did.”

“I need a rematch.”

Auggie pointed at Lynneth, who was sitting next to them. They were once again on the front steps of the school. Everyone else in the Junior Stellar Ranger crew was also here, save for Amber. “She called winner. Aka, me. Sorry, Gemi.”

“No, no.” Lynneth smiled warmly. “We have time. Let her have her rematch.”

“Okay!” The younger Levey set up her side of the board with quick efficiency. “Mate in ten.”

 

“But I’m _better_ than you!” Gemini whined after ten moves.

“Not at this. Now move your butt, it’s time to beat a cheer captain.” Augusta was already starting to set up her side of the board.

The twin looked to Auggie, and then stood. She turned and bolted as fast as she could, away from the chess table and the school altogether.

“Gemini!” Cassie called, and then ran after her. “Wait!”

“...I feel a little bit bad.” Auggie frowned. “Was that too much?”

“Cassie can take care of it.” Lynneth said as she took Gemini’s place. “Besides, she may get indirect revenge here. I play the High School Chess Team, they’re making me captain next year.” A little Lanessa creeped into Lynneth’s voice. “But, you seem pretty good. I’m interested to see what you can do.”

Auggie watched Lynneth set up her side of the board. “Mate in...Hmm. I’m not sure, eleven, maybe? But it’s going to be close.”

Lynneth grinned. “Show me.”

*****

Gemini stood in the park, underneath the tower. She held her Thana Scythe high, and slashed it through a tree. The blade did not cut it, but once the blade was through it, its sparse autumn leaves turned from orange to grey, and the bark lost all of its color.

“I understand your frustration, sister, as she has beaten me several times.” Cassie stepped closer to her twin. “However, that tree did nothing to you, and Augusta channels lightning, so I doubt she would be intimidated by tree-destruction.”

“She must have cheated.” The other twin turned to her sister. “She must have cheated. She can’t beat me. No one can beat me!”

“Augusta is very good at chess. She is better than anyone I have ever seen.” Cassie put her hand on her twin’s shoulder. “You are not worthless for having lost to her.”

Gemi pulled away. “No. I need to beat her.”

“No. That is not what you need to do.” Cassie sighed. “Gemini, we hurt Augusta very, very badly. Allowing her one victory is only a start.”

“We hurt her because she was weak!” Gemi stamped her feet. “She was weak and clung to us. We were strong for her, and our payment was her pain.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes. “Do not romanticize it. She was scared and wanted friends. She thought we were cool because we were violent, powerful, and crude. We thought she was weak and wanted her to do things for us. We thought her being nice to us was funny. We thought her being afraid of us was intoxicating. We underestimated her.”

“She cheated.” Gemini insisted. She was not talking about the chess game.

“You took your eyes off of her to deal with Senine.” Cassie looked at the dead tree. She walked over to it and put her hand on it. A green glow surrounded it, and the space around her hand started to turn lively once again. “She stunned you. Vember took advantage of it.”

“You betrayed me.”

“You wanted to own life and death.” The leaves were once again going golden, gaining just enough life to fall later. “Giving each other tattoos, skipping school, bullying Augusta...those are one thing, Gemini. But becoming gods? We were going too far.”

“...I don’t want to go back.”

Cassie put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Then start making amends.”

“...Why.” Gemini was looking at the ground. “What do I have to make amends for?”

“You know, Gemini. You know what you’re making amends for.”

“...How can I? Do I just say I am sorry for the trouble I caused?”

“It would be a start.”

Gemini shook her head. “That is not enough.”

“Gemi...”

“That. Is not. Enough.” The death twin allowed her sister to hug her. “I have to make it right. Tell Vember to let me go. I will beat Stellos with June’s help. I will show him and them that I can be helpful. Let me be helpful.”

“You know we cannot. Not so soon after what you have done. Not without any sign that you are contrite.” Cassie rested her head on Gemini’s shoulder.

“They should let me do what I need to do.”

“You are trying to steal Faye’s girlfriend. You showed up in June’s room and insisted that she will be with you one day. You made Senine’s wound bleed--”

“I needed to show her that I was not soft.” 

Cassie sighed. “They know you are not soft. They do not like you. They do not want you. You need to make amends. Simple first, and then help.”

Gemini looked up into the shadow of the tower. She did not leave her sister’s side until it came time for her to re-enter her imprisonment.

*****  
“It’s cute that she won.” Lanessa said, pacing back and forth in Prince Decembren’s training room. Halloway watched her with bemusement.

“I know, love. You’ve said as much many times.”

“She has a talent. It’s cute.” She spun on her heel. “And, unlike the others, she wasn’t able to count how many moves it would take to put me in checkmate.”

“She was right about it being close, though.” Hal interjected.

“Yes! I’m the only one who’s ever been close. It was close in all three matches, too.” Lanessa smiled. “She’s a cute little human. I want to keep her when we’re done here.”

“That’s her call, dear.” Decembren manifested her sword, and then slashed a dummy in half. 

“Of course, dear.” The girl who was a monster gave her lover a grin. “Her choice, but I’m allowed to be persuasive.”

“You always are.”

Lanessa smirked at her lover.  "Yes, dear.  I always am."

******

Senine and Octavian were there when Cassiopeia led her sister back to her cell. Gemini let go of Cassie’s hand, and moved to the cell of her own accord. Mr. Vember entered at midnight, though he stayed quiet.

“You’re going to need me.” Gemini said, eyes locked with Cassie’s. The door then slid closed, and locked.

Senine breathed a sigh of relief, and left the room. Her hand was cradled around her midsection. Octavian moved to Cassie, who curled into his chest.

“How are you doing, sweetest of hearts?” He murmured.

“Does Senine know she actually hurt you?” Cassie asked.

“...That is a bit abrupt, dear.”

“I have been thinking a lot about vengeance.” Cassie closed her eyes. “Augusta forgave me for hurting her so much. Her revenge against my sister for a lifetime of abuse was...beating her at chess twice. Senine says you parted on good terms, and you support this, but I did not comfort you for theatrics alone. She hurt you, and you did not even think to tell her, much as Augusta never brings up what we did to her.”

“It’s hard, my darling, to stay mad at Senine. She does what she does to feel better. As she’s dying, I have decided not to hold it against her.”

“I’m not dying.” Cassie murmured. “Why did Auggie forgive me?”

“Because much like me, she loves you. She loves Gemini, too. She has always loved the two of you. You’ve only just now started returning her love. Gemini has yet to do so.” Octy smiled. “And you deserve that love. Some day, Gemini will realize that she does, to.”

Cassie did not say anything. She stayed in her boyfriend’s arms, silently swaying with him.

“I have some good news, by the way, speaking of love you deserve.” Octy squeezed Cassie. “Mother’s going out of the country for a year or two on business. I have decided to stay here while she’s gone, perhaps even until graduation.”

Cassie pulled away, and looked up at him, confusion slowly turning into delight. “You mean it?! Truly?!”

The elder Levey smiled widely. “I mean it. I’m going to be here for the foreseeable future, starting in the new year.”

Cassie hugged her boyfriend even tighter than before. She hope that, somehow, this would only be the first of many good things to happen in the days to come.

She also tried very hard to keep down any thoughts that, if they happened, she would not deserve them.


	14. Episode Fourteen:  A Wicked Temper

Baron Stellos stood in front of his throne, staring down at the person below him. “Temper. Excellent. I trust you have been briefed on your mission on the way here?”

  
The small figure grinned. “Yes, my lord. I am ready to begin my assault on the bearer of Nemesis and her allies.” It paused, and then smiled wider. “As I understand it, Rex was defeated at the hands of a--and just clarify if I am incorrect--newly minted Junior Ranger?”

  
“Yes. He was. However, you should not use this as a slight against him.” Stellos paced in front of his throne. “This group of Rangers is very adept for their age, and rather clever. It would do you well to not underestimate them, and to take Rex’s defeat as your reason to try even harder.”

  
“...Yes, Baron, of course.” It averted its eyes from him and knelt. “I apologize.”

“No need, my servant. Normally, I relish the pride you take in your work--the pride all of you take in serving me.” Stellos gestured to the brightest gems overseeing his throne. “And the pride by which you illuminate my great hall. However, pride is dangerous thing, and can, at times, blind us against true threats. These Rangers are true threats, even without the power of the Penumbra.”

“But, surely, not as great as you were.” Temper called. “Surely your legacy outshines theirs.”

Stellos smiled. “There is no question of it. Now, prepare for your duty. And do not fear failure. Even if all five of you fall, we will be victorious. I have one final plan, one last endeavor that the Puppetrix is assisting me with preparing. Even if the five of my best cannot beat them, they will be defeated by it. One way or another, none can stand in my way.”

*****

Auggie slumped down in her chair in the Solar City Mall’s food court, letting out a dismal noise. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother. I love my best friend. I love that they’re dating! I just don’t love that I’m about to lose my bathroom to an interloper.”

June looked up from a mouthful of fries, which she gulped down quickly. “That bad?”

“He has spent three freakin’ hours in there before! He gets up at like five AM to start getting ready for school! He takes hour long showers and I swear to all that is holy, Junie, you had better not be imagining my brother in the shower!”

June blinked, and then blushed with a flustered sputter. “Well, now I am!”

“Is this what you two nerds do?” Amber, the last person at the table, said, punctuating with straw noises from a long gulp of her drink. “Talk about stuff and embarrass the hell out of each other?”

Auggie and June shrugged. “Basically, yeah.”

“You should try it, Amber!” Auggie picked up a fork and started to gesture with it. “I mean, I know it’s fun, and that you hate fun.”

“You play chess for fun. You’re not in a position to talk about fun.”

“Want to play a round and lose?”

“No?” Amber leaned forward in her seat. “Unlike everyone else in school? I don’t want to prove that I’m good at a dumb game. You’re the champion at being boring, congratulations.”

“So, what do you want to do, Miss Notfun?”

June was looking thoughtfully at her phone while the two girls were bickering. She scrolled through her contacts, and bit her lip when one of them was highlighted.

“We’re in a mall? We could, I don’t know, go shopping?”

“No way! That’s not something we were planning on doing or anything!”

“So why aren’t we doing it?”

“We’re eating.”

“So eat faster so shopping can start.”

“I’m gonna eat slower, now.”

Amber let out a frustrated noise. “You are so immature.”

“I know! It’s pretty great. Unlike some people, I’m taking full advantage of being thirteen.” Auggie glanced over at June. “Who you calling?”

“Oh! I was just wondering if we should invite Faye or not.” June put down her phone. “I just haven’t had a chance to hang out with her since the party.”

The blue haired girl could not be grinning wider. “Oh my God you miss her. That’s so cute!”

June blushed yet again. “We’re dating, it’s not that weird!”

“It is for you! You’re usually looking for an escape route with her around. This is, like, the first time you’ve shown explicit interest in being around her. That is super cute, my friend.”

Amber interrupted. “Faye’s busy. She’s doing something with Senine.”

“...Oh.” June sounded disappointed. She set her phone down. “Oh well. We can have a date or something next weekend.”

Auggie looked down at the phone, and then at June. “...But you’re going to call her anyway, right?”

“...But she can’t come.”

Amber and Auggie shared a look. Amber spoke first. “...I’ve never been in a relationship, but, like, apparently, I know more about this than you. You call her anyway.”

“I hate to say it, but Amber’s right.” Auggie picked up June’s phone and handed it to her. “You invite her out anyway, because then she knows you were thinking about her.”

“...Oh. OH.” June took her phone and then stepped away from the table. She dialed Faye.

The phone rang twice, and then June heard a familiar and begrudgingly beloved voice. “Junie! Hi!”

“Hey! It’s June. Which, you just said my name, so you know that.”

“I like hearing your name anyway! It’s one of my favorite names. What’s up?”

“Oh, I just wanted to say hey, and ask if you wanted to come hang out with Auggie and Amber and I.” She looked over at her two friends. Auggie was making faces at Amber, and Amber was trying to ignore them. “Two of us will make it harder for them to kill each other.”

“That sounds really fun! But Senine and Leah and I are out with a foster sister night out. I’m really sorry, Junie. I want to come, but it’s family day.”

“No, I get it. You guys have fun, okay. I just...” June’s voice lowered a little. “I missed you.”

June could hear Faye gasp on the other end. “You...did?”

“Yeah.” A small smile crossed her face. “I did. I do. Do you want to go out next weekend? We haven’t really had a date yet, have we?”

“N-no. We haven’t. I was. Oh, Junie. Of course I do.” Faye paused a moment. “So...are we. This might be really clingy to ask but are we dating?”

June nodded, despite the fact it was a phone conversation. “Yeah. Yeah we are. Um. Girlfriend.”

“AWWWWWW!” Auggie called.

“Took you long enough.” Amber rolled her eyes.

“I need to go.” Faye said. “But, we’ll talk later about the date! Girlfriend.”

Faye hung up. June was smiling as she sat back at the table. 

“I am so, so proud of you.” Auggie took a sip of her drink. “Especially because I just won a bet. Cassie thought you’d be a few more months, and now she owes me five bucks.”

“I’m proud of me, too.” June sighed happily. “I’ve been leading her around too much. And she’s really nice, and pretty, and..”

“Oh. My. God.” Amber made a frustrated noise. “I get it, you love her. Faye is lovable. But can you please eat your food so we can start shopping?”

“Wow, Amber. Wow.” Auggie rolled her eyes. “This is an important moment for June.”

“No, no. Amber’s right.” June grabbed a handful of fries. “I need to get clothing for a date, now, we’d better hurry.”

 

****

 

“Leah! Senine!” Faye went rushing back to her foster sisters, bouncing with each step. “Junie said we’re dating! She called me her girlfriend!!”

They were on the boardwalk overlooking Sun Lake, a body of water about as large as the city itself. Shops and restaraunts and simple carnival rides were set up in two rows along its length, and even though it was a rather chilly early November, there were still a large number of people, mostly families, milling around it.

Leah smiled at Faye. “That’s great! I didn’t even have to get Julius to poke her until she admitted it, either.”

“I’m so glad! I was worried she wasn’t gonna say anything. I would’ve given her all the time she needed, but I’m so glad she ended up not needing much at all!” 

Senine patted her on the back, which quickly turned into a hug on Faye’s part. Senine hardly squirmed at all in it. “Okay, now Leah’s going to buy us lunch to celebrate.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

“And she’s going to let me drive on the way home.”

Leah put her hands on her hips. “And how does helping you with your learner’s permit celebrate Faye’s relationship, exactly?”

“Because I say so. Also, Faye, back me up on this.” Senine turned to Faye just in time to see her dart around behind the taller girl.

“I agree to buying lunch, because you don’t have a job.”

“I’m way too cool to have a job.” She turned to Faye. “Hey, you okay?”

“Oh! Yeah, I’m--” Faye scooted around Senine, peeking around her to something past her. “I’m fine.”

Senine followed Faye’s gaze. Her eyes narrowed when it located their subject. “Oh son of a bitch, I wish I could hammer civilians, sometimes.”

Leah turned now, too. “Oh boy.” She located two adults who bore some family resemblance to Faye. They had not noticed Faye, and were strolling across the boardwalk, towards a pizza place. “Let me guess? Her parents.”

Senine nodded. “Yeah. That’s them. AKA really, really awful people.”

Faye said nothing. She made a small, whining noise not unlike that of a puppy and clung to Senine’s arm. 

“Don’t worry, sweetie. If they come this way or try to talk to you, I’ll keep them away.” Leah pat her foster sister on the head.

“Yeah. Me too. With the Pulsar Sledge.” Senine grumbled, her eyes narrowing as she saw them.

“Senine!”

“If your powers worked, you’d be making the same sorts of threats, Leah. Don’t want to hear it.”

“I would not and you know it.” Leah watched as Faye’s biological parents entered one of the boardwalk’s many eateries and breathed a small sigh of relief. “Well, I believe the places we were planning on having lunch at were just narrowed down by one.”

 

****

 

“So, like, why do all the aliens speak English? And why do so many of them look like humans?” Amber, Auggie, and June were now in a larger department store, again in the mall.

June and Amber both looked to Auggie for an answer.

She looked between the two of them, blinking. “Don’t ask me. That’s a question for Senine and or Mr. Vember.”

“What, you don’t know?” Amber asked incredulously. “It’s, like, the most obvious question to ask? It’s super weird.”

“It is pretty weird.” June said, checking out some jeans she would almost certainly grow out of shortly, but also, looked very cute. She opened her purse and started to scrounge around in it.

“Well it’s not obvious to me!” Auggie crossed her arms over her chest. “I barely even MET any aliens before these guys attacked.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Did they look like humans, too?”

“No.” Auggie’s clipped words had a defensive edge to them. “For your information, they were snakes.”

June found her wallet. It was empty.

“So why--”

“I don’t know why they were snakes. Evolution probably?”

Amber made a frustrated noise. “Do you know anything?”

“I know that you’re a jerk!”

June sighed, and pushed a few things aside to see if maybe some money fell out. She found a quarter. She looked up at the jeans with vain hope, but they were, unfortunately, not having a 99% off sale.

“Wow, good one.” Amber rolled her eyes yet again.

“Better be careful, they’re going to fall out of your head if you keep doing that.”

“What are you, eight?”

“Yeah, plus five.”

June dropped her purse. She turned around, towards one of the exterior exits to the department store, past the racks of clothing and mannequins. She was holding her badge in her fist.

A small figure, no larger than a child, was standing just inside the first set of doors. Even from here, she could make out the red and gold uniform the figure was wearing.

“I’m glad someone’s mature on this team.”

“Yeah, Cassie’s pretty great.”

“I wasn’t--”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Guys.” June interrupted. She nodded towards the door. “Trouble.”

 

*****

 

After a satisfactory meal of fried seafood, Senine poked her head into the pizza place across the street, and saw Faye’s parents, sitting at a table, enjoying a pizza. Her father was nursing a beer, and her mother was talking loudly about something Senine assumed to be worthless and terrible. 

Senine frowned, and lifted a hand, palm down. She slowly lowered it. Mr. Burrey attempted to lift his beer, but found it a little heavier than anticipated. The bottle tipped, and spilled all over his shirt and lap, causing him to give a shout of alarm. Senine snickered to herself, and headed across the way, to the seafood place.

Faye and Leah were waiting in front of the seafood place nearby. Senine waved as she approached. “Coast is clear. They’re going to be in there for a while.”

Faye launched herself at Senine and hugged her around the waist. Senine reeled a bit at the sudden contact, and then smiled and put an arm around her. “Easy there. I just ate, and even though I’m a badass, my ribs are still human-fragile.”

“Oops. Sorry.” Faye giggled slightly, still giving Senine a huge smile. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem. Now let’s get out of here before they finish. We can grab ice cream or something somewhere else.”

“I suppose I’m buying ice cream, too?” Leah said with an exaggerated sigh.

“Thanks for volunteering, ‘sis’.” Senine took Faye’s hand, and the three of them started towards the car.

“You still can’t drive.”

“Oh, come on!”

“Hey, Leah?” Faye looked up at her, expression quizzical. “What did Senine mean when she said ‘if your powers worked’?”

“Oh!” Leah turned to Faye. The boardwalk around them was getting more dense and more populated by busy families the closer they came to the shore. “That’s a little complicated. Basically, when I was little, Dad decided that it would be safest if my powers never manifested, so he locked them up.”

Faye’s eyes widened, and then her brow furrowed in confusion. “But...I thought he couldn’t do that.”

“You can’t, if your power’s come in.” Senine ruffled Faye’s hair. “He hasn’t actually locked anything away. He’s just made her power puberty on indefinite hiatus. She still technically has the power, it’s just playing Sleeping Beauty.”

“Right.”

She looked even more confused, now. “But...why?”

“Because my Mom was the last person to have Nemesis and the Penumbra.” They reached Leah’s small blue car. “Kids tend to get synced with stars that are like their parents’ stars. Dad didn’t want to risk that mine would be destructive like hers was.”

“But...he doesn’t know! That’s not fair.” Faye sniffled, her eyes very slightly watering. “You could have amazing powers, and you’d never know it!”

“Shhh, Faye, it’s okay. If there’s a chance they’d be too dangerous, I’m glad I don’t know what they are.” Leah shrugged, and gave Faye a kind smile. “Besides, it’s hard to miss something if you’ve never known it.”

“Oh.” Faye gave Leah a hug. “Okay.”

“Come on, the ice cream’s waiting for us.”

Both Faye and Leah missed the expression on Senine’s face, how she was staring down at her feet with her hands balled into fists.

 

****

 

“Oh my God, he’s so...tiny!” Auggie said, barely holding back a giggle.

The Stellar Sword known as Temper was even smaller than the trio of early-teens. He was even smaller than Auggie, the shortest of the junior Rangers. He had two overly large-black orbs for eyes, one protruding from each side of his head, with a tiny slit mouth and four nostril holes between them. His smooth, rubbery, teal skin had absolutely no hair on it.

“I am fully grown for my species.” The spindly creature said in an incredibly nasal voice. “And if my height is humorous for you, it will be all the more humiliating when I defeat you.”

“Yeah, maybe...a little bit.” Auggie said, and then burst out laughing.

Amber tried very hard to not to laugh as well, and failed.

“Guys!” June had not taken her eyes off the diminutive alien, who was now standing amidst the clothing racks. “Focus! He’s still an elite soldier for our nemesis.”

“Right! Right, sorry.” Auggie tried to hide her smile. “I guess I my first impression was that he was a...small threat.”

There was a snort of laughter from Amber. “God, you’re not funny.”

“Surrender the bearer of the Penumbra--which I’m assuming is the albino--and the others, despite your disrespect, may live.” Temper hummed when he spoke, and the buttons on his uniform were all crystals, each one glowing with a star heart. “Otherwise, I will kill you all, and claim your hearts for my master.”

“Just leave us and this planet alone.” June summoned both of her daggers. “We don’t want to hurt anyone, but we’ll defend ourselves, like we have.”

Temper’s buttons began to sparkle. The clothing and hangers rattled around them. “You think I’m frightened? Rex is powerful, but he’s also a blunt instrument. The Stellar Swords only get more powerful. Not that you’ll notice. There are three beyond me that you’ll never meet.”

There were sudden bursts from all around them. Amber’s rifle was out, and Auggie’s batons were crackling. The clothing and hangers swirled and gathered into a vaguely humanoid form, only slightly larger than Temper. Its hands were made of tangled wire hangers, and a skirt made a vacant, hood-like head. The clothing construct lifted its arms and tried to lunge.

A lightning bolt caught it in the chest, and then it burst into flame, falling back into a burning mess. 

For a moment, everyone watched the burning wreckage. Auggie was the first to break the silence.

“Wow, I really made..short work out of that thing!”

“Oh my _God_.”

“GUYS.”

  
Temper stared down at the wrecked construct. His overly large eyes swiveled back up at the Junior Rangers, eyes locked in anger. “This was just a sample.” He raised his hands, and the clothing racks started to twitch and shift, along with the clothes and hangers. They pulled together in another, larger figure, this one slightly taller than June.

June darted forward, and slashed two deep slashes into its chest. Auggie spun and came around with a crackling blast of electricity, setting the construct alight once again. It turned with a heavy smash, and missing June by a wide margin. June blasted it with a shot of light, knocking its “head” away.

Amber, meanwhile, aimed her rifle at Temper. She took a single shot. The moment before the bullet hit, the construct fell to the ground in a pile of wreckage. Temper recoiled, though he had no damage at all from the gunshot.

“Dishonor!” Temper shrieked. “To attack me rather than my construct.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Whatever? It’s the obvious thing to do? Like you’re just going to keep summoning them.”

“Woah, nice job, Amber.” Auggie stepped in line beside her. “You missed him, but, hey, he’s a pretty small target.”

Amber rested her rifle against her shoulder. “I don’t ‘miss’.”

June got into a lower fighting stance. She was not taking her eyes off of Temper, who was starting to visibly shake with rage. The whole department store around them started to shake.

“Well, he’s pretty intact, so you didn’t ‘hit’ him.”

The wreckage, the tile ceiling, and other, undisturbed clothing racks started to rattle. Temper’s eyes were bulging even more than normal. “As long as my creations live, they die in my place!” The debris pulled itself into a larger form, with parts of the store tearing themselves up to join the vaguely humanoid mass, this one a dozen feet tall. “I have dozens of constructs in my care, you cannot defeat me, even with your dishonorable tactics!”

The new construct lowered its arm, and Temper stepped into it. The construct pulled him inside its chest, and closed up like a suit of armor. Auggie took a step back, her batons crackling.

“Okay I am really regretting those short jokes, now.”

“Whatevs.” Amber levered another round into the chamber. “You make it so you can’t actually get hurt, and you say I’m dishonorable? Like, get a mir--”

Auggie pushed Amber out of the way, just in time for both girls to avoid a very large arm smashing down next to them. The construct lumbered after Amber, with its arms high. She dodged back, trying to pull the rifle to her shoulder, but the construct did not relent. It crossed with long, heavy, floor-shaking strides, never giving Amber a moment to stop and aim. Auggie grabbed Amber’s hand and pulled her faster.

Meanwhile, June began to flash black and white. She extended her arm towards the construct. “The Black Sun rages within me. You stand in its judge--”  
Temper’s construct spun, and its arm launched off from the rest of it, separating into a cloud of shrapnel. June’s eyes widened, and she fired a blast of dark to scatter the deadly cloud, rolling to the side to avoid the brunt of it. Her shoulder erupted in a sharp burst of pain, indicating that she had not quite dodged all of it. The aura around her rapidly faded.

“Do you think I am an _idiot_?” Temper snarled from within his armor. He turned, and took several long, surprisingly rapid strides towards June. “Do you think I would just _let_ you perform your powerful spell? Do you think I would just _allow_ it?”

  
June’s eyes widened, and she stumbled to her feet. Warmth was starting to trickle down her arm. A beat pulsed in the back of her head, growing stronger the more panic seeped into her.

Amber pulled her rifle to her shoulder, but Auggie pushed her gun down. “That’s not gonna work. He’s made of metal, why don’t you you just pull it out?”

“I tried. His power, like, blocks mine when its in his things.” 

A blast of light smashed into the construct’s “head”. It blasted to pieces, and then pulled back together from other pieces of detritus. June’s hands were starting to spark with black and white energy.

“Why don’t you blast him with lightning or something?” Amber took a shot, but the construct did not so much as shift in its pursuit of June.

Auggie looked at the monstrous construct. She looked over at Amber. “I...have an idea. Hold my hand.”

“Um. What?”

“Hold my hand, and...” She knelt down and grabbed one end of a pole that had once been part of a clothing rack. “..grab the other end of this, and concentrate on magnets.”

June’s back hit a mannequin. She was sparking brighter, now, and the beat in her head was coming through loud and clear. It would be so easy to just give into it, to lose herself in the dreaded pulse running through her.

The construct loomed over June, and raised in arm in a vicious downward strike. June immediately thought of Senine and Faye and her brother. The air around her started to grow dense, and the sparks grew brighter. The beat was all around her. It was part of her. All she needed to survive would be to give in. All she needed was for the beat to fill her and change her into its instrument.

The arm did not come down.

Behind the construct, Auggie and Amber were holding hands, with the metal bar held between the two of them. Amber was glowing a dark, deep red, and Auggie was glowing bright, crackling blue. Pieces of metal, hangers, and parts of the clothing racks were pulling towards them, and the construct stumbled back, obviously struggling against the pull from their magnetic teamwork.

The beat was flowing through June. She extended a hand towards Temper and his struggling construct. “The Black Sun flows through me.” She did not completely understand what she was saying, but she knew that it was powerful, and she knew that it was important. Her whole body burned with black and white fire. “Listen to its song.”

Auggie’s eyes widened. She dropped the pole, and her power, and grabbed Amber once again, pulling her into a changing room.

The construct was free, now, and tried to bring its arm down on June. It struck a semi-transparent black and white sphere around her. The fires around June flared, and the construct stumbled back from an invisible force.

For a moment, it looked like June was holding something large in her arms, shrouded in black and white flame. “Dark Star Riot.”

 

 

Temper lay in a smoldering pile, twitching and moaning in pain on the floor of Baron Stellos’s throne room. Stellos stood before him, looking down at his elite soldier with an impassive stare.

“You see now, Temper, why I told you to take them seriously.”

He did not respond except to groan in pain.

“Your hubris will, hopefully, be curbed in response to this failure.”

Temper gave something like a nod. Stellos gestured to two of his servants, who rushed in to carry the Stellar Sword away.

 

 

June’s eyes fluttered open. Her head was buzzing, and she felt a faint pounding in her head that had nothing to do with her heartbeat. Auggie was kneeling in front of her, and immediately got a relieved smile when she noticed June waking up.

“Oh thank God, Junie.” Auggie breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

June sat up very slowly, and put a hand to her head. It was smoldering, again, as was most of her. “Did I...explode again?”

“Not...exactly.”

She looked away from Auggie, and saw that there was now a long blasted, cracked wound in the floor of the store. June stared at the gash, eyes wide. “...This is going to cost a lot to fix.”

“We’re alive! And also, all of us kicked all sorts of ass! We beat a Stellar Sword with just the three of us! I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I think it means, at the very least, that we are hella awesome.”

June stared at the wreckage for a moment. “What did I even do?”

Auggie shrugged. “I don’t know, I just saw that it looked like you were gonna go critical, so I ducked and covered with Amber.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s calling Vember.” Auggie gave a small smile. “We worked really well together. Did you see that magnet mojo we did?”

“A little. I was pretty focused on--” June wanted to say ‘the beat’. “The bad guy.”

“I mean Vember told us about team-attack stuff, like, ages ago but he said it was too advanced for us, but Amber and I just kind of clicked with it, you know? We just managed to do it and we stopped that jerk in his tracks.”

June was staring into the hole. “Yeah. I didn’t even know that you could do that sort of thing.”

Auggie got to her feet, and helped June up. “Technically, we’re not supposed to. It’s an advanced technique for senior rangers only.”

“Oh. So, are you guys going to be okay?” 

She shrugged. “I feel fine now? We’re probably just too badass. I mean, we were a really good team.”

 

 

Twenty minutes later, June stepped out of the infirmary with Auggie, Amber, and Mr. Vember.

“Well, Mr. Vember, are Amber and I going to merge into a super-hottie?”

Mr. Vember sighed. “No, Augusta. You may notice a few oddities, but the two of you are in as good condition as can be expected.”

“Thank God.” Amber sighed. “My social life is bad enough without being part dork.”

“I do wish you would take this a bit more seriously, the both of you.” He sighed again, and looked to June, “Are you certain that you, at least, are doing alright?”

“Yes, Mr. Vember. I feel great, except for the weird beat in my head.” She looked up at him. “What was that thing I did? Do you know?”

He gave her a grave nod. “Yes, I have a theory. I believe it to be the Dark Star Riot, one of the more powerful abilities associated with the Penumbra. While its arrival fills me with some amount of trepidation, it is, all in all, a good sign. Many previous possessors of the Penumbra have been destroyed by channeling it--that you have used it successfully and remain yourself in body and spirit may signify that the Penumbra is...accepting you as a host.”

“Like.” Amber interjected. “It still woulda killed us and stuff if we’d been in the way? That’s not a lot.”

“Be grateful, Miss Septus, that it did not do worse.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah whatever. Hey.” she turned to June, “June. Can I talk with you a sec? Alone? If we’re done talking about how you didn’t kill us, again?”

“Oh my God, Amber.” Auggie shoved her with her shoulder. “Way to keep being sensitive.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s a valid concern.” June gestured to one of the tower’s many side-rooms. “I’m up for talking, sure.”

The two paired off to the side room. Amber was gripping her hands in tight fists. “Look. I need to hang out with you tomorrow. You need to, like, help me with something. With my parents.”

“Huh? What?”

Amber took a deep breath and looked June in the eye. “I need you to help me come out to them as a Stellar Ranger.”


	15. Episode Fifteen:  Identities

As with most mornings, bright and early, Augusta Levey and Cassiopeia Schumacher knocked on June Hespia’s door after having been let in by Julius. As with most mornings, the door was still closed when they arrived.

Auggie knocked on the door. “Juuunie! Wake up, it’s school time.”

A pained moan came from inside. “Noooooooo.”

“C’mon, it’s school time.”

“I’m dead.”

“Are you sick?” Auggie looked over at Cassie, who shrugged.

“Noooooo go away.”

“So what’s...Oh! It’s period time, huh?”

“Yes go away I’m suffering.”

Cassie spoke now. “I can ease some of that pain, June, if you’d like.”

“...You can?”

“Yes.”

“...The door’s open.”

 

About five minutes later, Cassie, June, and Auggie were walking down the street, towards school.

“Wow, thanks Cassie!” June said from under her parasol. “It still hurts a little but I feel a LOT better.”

“It’s no problem,” Cassie smiled at her friend. “I’m always happy to assist a friend.”

“Still, you’re really lucky.” She nudged Cassie. “That must be why you never really seem to have a bad day.”

 

“....” Cassie and Auggie shared a look. Auggie asked, “Did we not...tell you about Cassie’s situation, Junie?”

She gave her friends a quizzical look. “No? I mean besides the morally questionable twin and the dangerous rebel preteen phase.”

“Well.” Cassie swallowed hard, and looked at her feet. Her face was rather flushed. “My sister and I are, as you know, identical twins. We have always been such, and we have also always been female. Even if, at birth, the doctor who delivered us disagreed on that point.”

 

“...Huh? Wait...” The wheels spun in June’s head. “Are you two trans?”

Cassie nodded. “Yes, we are. My powers, combined with hormones, have allowed me to guide our bodies to those that we felt we would be more comfortable with. We produce the right hormones on our own, now. In this, I have quite a bit of privilege over those in my situation but without my powers.”

“Oh. Okay. Huh.” June paused. “That’s great, Cassie, I’m glad you’re in a situation where you can be comfortable with yourself.”

Cassie almost seemed to melt from relief. “I’m glad you feel that way, June. I am always cautious when telling new people.”

“Well, no worries from me! Is it a secret or something?”

“Not exactly. Amber and her...ex-friends were rather vocal against me when it became common knowledge.” Cassie looked straight ahead and gave a shrug. “I have no idea how she feels about it, now, but it has been years since I have been harassed.”

“Well, I’ll be talking to her later. Should I ask?” 

“Wow, Junie, you’re hanging out with Amber again?” Auggie glanced over at her.

June nodded. “She wants help with a few things.”

“To answer your question, June, no. She’s comfortable enough with us, now, and doesn’t seem to harbor any specific ill will.” She pondered briefly. “Granted, an apology would be nice.”

 

“An apology would be nice.”

Amber turned around to find the source of the voice, Bethany, who was standing next to Valerie.

“Like, is there something specific I’m apologizing for, here?”

Bethany gave her a scowl. “For not hanging out with us? For hanging out with the freaks instead? For, like, not saying anything to use about it? I thought we were friends, Amber.”

Amber started to say something, and then stopped. “Yeah. Whatever. Sorry.”

“...And? What’s your deal, Amber?” Valerie chimed in. “Suddenly you’re like best friends with them and we don’t exist and you think ‘sorry’ is enough? What happened to hating Faye? Now you’re hanging out with her? Don’t tell me you’re gay, too, now.”

“I’m not gay.” Amber said, very insistently. “And being gay’s not, like, a bad thing. Faye’s really nice.”

Valerie and Bethany exchanged a look, and then looked back at Amber. “What the fuck are you talking about? It’s super gross, Amber. Faye could be watching us get dressed.”

“Faye’s a really nice person, and, like...I’m starting to see that you guys are kinda not?” Amber crossed her arms. “I was a jerk to Faye for no reason. She’s really nice. She’s my co-captain.”

Valerie and Bethany looked at each other again. Bethany stepped forward and pressed her finger to Amber’s chest. “If Faye’s going to be running the team, we’re not going to be on it.”

“Yeah.” Valerie stepped up beside her friend. “We’re not going to be around for her to gay it up.”

Amber looked at her former friends. A nearby pipe started rattling in the wall. “Good. We don’t need you. Lynneth trusts her. Lynneth is cool.” She narrowed her eyes. “Faye’s cool. You two? Aren’t. At all. So become a decent person, or get off our team. I don’t care which it is. I’m still a cheerleader, I’m still going to be co-captain with Faye, and I’m going to try to make up for being such a bitch to Faye for so long.”

They stared at her, stunned. Amber turned on her heel to leave.

“You’re...you’re going to side with that...that...lesbo freak rather than us. Your friends since third grade.”

The pipe burst inside the wall with a loud bang. The two un-powered girls jumped in surprise. Amber did not even twitch. “Yes. I’m going to be, like, a decent person. Or I’m gonna try, anyway. You might wanna do it, too.”

She walked away, past Faye and the other junior rangers. For the rest of the day, until after classes, she avoided both her former friends and her new friends, until the time came to meet June.

 

*********

 

“So.” June said as they walked towards Amber’s home on the east side of Solar City. “Why me?”

Amber kicked a rock. “Because you’re the only one who’ll work. Auggie won’t get it. Cassie won’t get it. Senine will, like, just yell at them.”

“Why not Faye? She’s basically your best friend these days, right?”

“I don’t want to make Faye have to pretend she’s anyone she’s not any more than she has to.” Amber was walking through the streets in the lower-income part of town, taking a few steps ahead of June.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” June asked. Amber did not turn to look at her.

“Do you think I, like, became a homophobic bitch on my own?” She took a big step over a chunk of very cracked pavement. “Mom and Dad thinks it’s, like, a sin. They don’t hate people or want them to die or anything, but, like...” Her tone became increasingly full of grudging frustration. “They think they’re sick and in trouble and, like, need help.” Amber reached a stop sign and finally turned towards June. “So, like, don’t mention that you’re bi, or, like, have a girlfriend or anything, okay?”

June stared at her. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Just, I don’t know, don’t mention it.”

“What if they ask if I have a boyfriend?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “You, like, don’t have a boyfriend?”

“Amber, I am a terrible liar. And also, what you just said is not okay.”

“Here we go.” Amber sighed. “You gonna get into your ‘you stand in judgement’ thing again? Cause these are my parents. They love me and keep me fed and, you know, alive?” 

“It’s not right.” June reiterated, putting her arms across her chest.

“Look.” She looked down at her feet. “I’ve been doing research and stuff. And I know it’s not right. But, like...I don’t want them to hate my friends. Or tell me I can’t, like, hang out with them. They already might hate me for, you know, being a witch or whatever.”

June was still frowning. “Okay. I don’t like it, but...I’d miss you if your parents didn’t let you hang out. But it stands--I am a horrible liar and if they pry about my love life at all I’m going to need you to distract them.”

“Was that so hard? Come on, it’s just a couple blocks away.” Amber was trying very hard to not focus on three particular words that June had just said.

“I guess not.” Both Amber and June’s phones buzzed simultaneously. They shared a look and pulled them out, finding matching messages from Mr. Vember.

They read, ‘Girls, I would like you all to come to the tower as soon as is convenient. I have confirmed some information about Baron Stellos that I would like to share with all of you.’

Amber and June looked at each other. June immediately started to type back.

‘Hey, Mr. Vember, is it okay if Amber and I are late or hear about it later? We were doing a really important thing. Amber’s coming out to her parents as a Ranger and she wanted me here.’

“...I guess we can do this some other day or something.” Amber’s posture visibly slumped.

“Hold on a sec.” June said as she read Mr. Vember’s response.

‘That’s typically something I would do with Amber. However, if this is how she wants it, so be it. The others can fill you in on the details at a later date. Gods know that Senine would relish the chance to do it in a more concise manner than I will. Good luck, and call me if you require assistance dealing with her family. You’re both mature, sensible young ladies, and I am certain that you will have no troubles at all.’

“Mr. Vember says the others can tell us later.” June put her phone back in her purse. “He also says that you’re mature and sensible, by the way.”

“Duh.” Amber turned to start back towards the way to her house. “I keep, like, trying to tell everyone?”

June smiled despite herself. “Well, with all that research, I’m starting to believe it.”

 

*******

 

Faye sat with the others in Mr. Vember’s office. She was practically bouncing in her seat. “Is Junie coming soon, Mr. Vember?”

He, at his desk, put down the phone and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. She and Amber have an important task to run. I trust you girls to tell them what I’m about to tell you, later.”

Senine, who was sitting on the arm of Faye’s chair, grinned. “Probably with fewer words, but yeah, Vember, it’ll be more or less what you tell us.”

“Well, to begin with,” Mr. Vember looked out at the four girls in front of him. “We will have another full Ranger here, starting with the New Year. Octavian will be joining us full time.”

Cassie smiled brightly at that. Auggie looked right at her. “I hope you’re happy. Your boyfriend being here means I lose my bathroom.”

“It’s a good thing you’re my very best friend, then, and are willing to endure such a sacrifice for the betterment of both myself and also the team.” Cassie shot right back, her bright smile also a little smug.

Vember cleared his throat again. “But that is not the reason I’ve brought you here, today. I’ve discovered something important on the topic of our enemy. And it...ties into something I have been meaning to explain to you girls for some time, now.

“I now know what drove Stellos to be what he is today, and what he was before then.”

 

*********

 

“Mom?” Amber called as she entered her home with June trailing behind her.

Mrs. Septus was sitting at the dining room table, with little Hera Septus sitting beside her. She looked up at Amber on her entry and smiled widely. “Amber-pie, runnin’ a little late, aren’t you? Oh, and you’ve got a friend!” She stood and rushed over to Amber and June, hugging both of them in turn. She paused on June, giving her a quick-once over. “Well, look at you! You’re white as a ghost! I’m Amber’s Mom, but you can call me Julie, okay sweetie?”

June felt a little blitzed by the whole ordeal, and just nodded.

“God, Mom, you’re being embarrassing. This is June, she’s my friend from school.”

“Oh, you’re not a little cheerleader like Amber-pie, are you?”

June looked over at Amber. “Amber-pie?”

“Yes, Junie, Amber-pie.” Amber rolled her eyes again. “No, Mom, she’s not a cheerleader.”

“Well, I bet she could be a great one if she wanted.” Mrs. Septus winked at June. “Is she staying for supper? I don’t think you’ve ever brought a friend home, Amber-pie, she’s gotta stay for supper.”

“Actually, Mom...” Amber trailed off before finding her nerve. “There’s something June and I wanted to talk to you and Dad about.”

June was sidling away from Amber and June. Hera, who looked very much like a tiny Amber, was looking right at her. “Why’re you so white?”

“Oh! I’m an albino. I was born without any pigment.” June left out the fact that she was way paler, and her eyes far more red, than the average human albino.

“Is it important? Can it wait til after supper? ‘Cause your father’s not gonna be back from work until later.”

Amber fidgeted, and a fork fell off the table, drawing attention from everyone but her. “Yeah. No. It’ll, like, wait. June and I are going to my room, which means no Heras allowed.”

Hera pouted at her sister, and then looked to her mother. “Mom!”

“Shush, sweetie. Amber needs her space with her little friend. You’ll understand when you’re her age. Go on, we’ll call you for supper.”

Amber grabbed June by the arm. “Come on.”

 

*********

 

Centuries ago, Baron Stellos was, in addition to being minor nobility in a far-off solar system, a Stellar Ranger. He worked as a support for his teammates, also minor nobility in the system in which he worked to keep the peace, as his power is documented as that of Strength, physical power at its most raw form. His allies were all the more formidable with him empowering them against their foes.

The Rangers under Stellos--as he quickly became their leader--defeated challenge after challenge--from lowly raiders and pirates to namelesss, primordial beasts from Beyond the Night. They even fought back the Frost Orchestra’s first foray against space protected by the Rangers. Stellos gave his group a name, one that still exists today as the name of his elites--the Stellar Swords. It seemed as if nothing could stop him, or his soldiers, from their task of protecting the Million Baronies.

 

“Wait.” Auggie interrupted. “You’re saying that not only was this creep a hero, he was a hero among heroes.”

Mr. Vember nodded. “I am saying exactly that, Ms. Levey. Baron Stellos was, at one time, a great man.”

“No fucking way.” Senine said, shifting slightly from her perch.

“Sadly, Senine, those are the facts that I have discovered. Now, if I may continue.”

 

One day, a researcher approached the Stellar Swords. Her name was Kilaua, and she professed to have a singularly unique ability--the power to safely remove a Star Heart from its host. She wished to use her power, in conjunction with Stellos’s, in order to better study Star Hearts. She wanted to discover the limits in strength that could be passed to others, and the strain a Star Heart could take--all both in the name of the betterment of the universe, and also, as humanely as possible. Stellos accepted, and with his help, Kilaua continued her research.

The two were inseparable for years. Stellos was overcome with Kilaua’s charm, intelligence and beauty. He asked her to marry him, and she readily accepted. Her research continued unabated by their betrothal.

Rumbling began, however. A few were hesitant to accept such a process, and were concerned that removing the star from someone would be dangerous in the long run--and please, Senine, hold your comments for now.

One day, Stellos left on a mission. When he returned, he found that a group of infamous mercenaries known as the Savage Stars had ravaged his home, killed those of his teammates that had remained behind, and razed Kilaua’s laboratory with her inside of it.

After that day, Stellos vowed to use Kilaua’s research, that it would not die with her. He began with a promise that every single Savage Star would have their star removed and put on display as a living tribute to his vow for revenge. However, in time, he began to use the process en masse on his soldiers, using his power enhance the stars of his soldiers to a degree beyond what they could endure within their bodies. Over the centuries, it stopped being about revenge--the pageantry of the severed stars was enough. He forgot his pursuit of the Savage Stars, and began a pursuit of something else--a display worthy of his beloved’s memory.  
It’s because of people like Stellos that Senior Rangers are not allowed to fight, save in an emergency. We are encouraged to not practice or develop our powers, after a certain age, to avoid conflicts that would strengthen us. We are discouraged from ever leaving our headquarters, in fact, and are told to only train the next generation, for the fear that, one day, we will become what that generation fights.

 

“Fucking bullshit.” Senine said, once Vember was finished. “Still so much fucking bullshit.”

“Senine, first of all, language. Second, I verified this information extensively my--”

“No.” Senine stood. “This guy was never a hero, he was just a bad guy who did good things. A hero wouldn’t be doing what he’s doing now. A hero wouldn’t casually order what happened to Jordy.”

“Senine.”

“No.” The whole room as suddenly heavier. Senine’s head swam. “He was a monster.”

Faye stood, and gave Senine a very big hug. “It’s okay. We’re gonna stop him.”

Senine was silent, and leaned against Faye for reasons beyond affection.

“Miss Burrey is correct. We will put an end to his collection once and for all.” Mr. Vember looked to Auggie and Cassie. “Are there any questions?”

“I got one.” Auggie sat up. “Who was this Kilaua lady? How’d she even know how to remove a star in the first place?”

“Unfortunately, Miss Levey, history is a bet...sketchy, on that part.” Novias Vember pointed to a stack of books and papers, none of which were in any human language. “Kilaua is first mentioned in accounts of her meeting with Stellos. Her methods, her powers, and her history are all missing--rather conspicuously, I may add.”

Cassie looked a little pale. “I can’t...I don’t see how this is. To go from revenge to wanton theft. How could one even envision such a thing?”

“Maybe we can ask while beating the tar out of him?” Auggie offered, and put her hand on Cassie’s.

“Yes, that sounds lovely.”

Senine was a bit more steady on her feet, now, in no small part to resting against her deceptively strong adoptive sister. “What about that puppet lady? What’s her story?”

Mr. Vember shrugged. “A mercenary, from what I’ve been able to gather. The Puppetrix keeps much of herself hidden--many theorizes that the form in which she interacts with her clients is just another puppet. Her purpose is typically in the sewing of chaos. Many have purported to have slain the Puppetrix, but she continually re-emerges, as fit as ever.”

“So her story is we don’t know her story.” Senine sighed. “Great.”

 

**********

 

“Nice room you have here.” June said, walking in a circle. “Do you share it with your sister?”

“There are two beds, aren’t there?” Amber said with a very defensive tone.

“I’m not being sarcastic or trying to tease you, you know. I live in a two-bedroom apartment with my brother, my room’s half the size of this one.”

“...Oh.” Amber shuffled her feet. “Sorry, I guess.”

June sat on the edge of Amber’s bed. “So, why haven’t you invited anyone else over here? Like those two girls you used to hang out with?”

Amber moved to her window and leaned against the sill. The sky behind her was starting to fade from blue into orange and purple. “Because we’re poor.”

“...So? I’m poor.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not in danger of getting, like, made fun of for it.”

Sympathy crept into June’s voice. “Your friends would’ve made fun of you for being poor?”

Amber shrugged it off. “They’re not my friends.”

“Oh?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

June and Amber sat for several minutes in awkward silence before June asked, “So, do these boy band posters belong to you or your sister?”

“Now you’re making fun.”

“Little bit.”

“For your information? Those are my sister’s.”

June glanced around a bit more. “The cars are yours?”

“I _like_ cars.”

“...Do you like-like cars?”

Amber looked really flustered. “ _God_ , you sound like Auggie.”

“Sorry! I’m only teasing a little, you just never really talk about yourself, you know?” June stood and walked over to Amber. “I don’t even know what your crushes are or anything.”

Amber’s hand briefly sparked. Neither girl noticed it. “I don’t have any crushes.”

“...None?” Said June, the girl with a million crushes.

“No?”

“So you don’t think anyone’s cute.”

“That’s not what I said. I know that one highschooler with blue hair is cute.”

“But you don’t have a crush on him?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “I know people find him and people who look like him attractive? I’m just not, like attracted to him. I’m thirteen, I don’t need to be lusting after people yet.”

“Oh.” June paused. “Maybe you’re asexual?”

“What-sexual?”

“Asexual. It means you don’t find people attractive, as a rule.”

“...Oh.” Amber suddenly needed to do a lot more research. “That’s a thing?”

“It’s definitely a thing.”

“Oh.” Amber repeated. “Well, like, again, I’m just, like, thirteen, it’s probably not a thing with me. Even if, like, it could be....When did you know?”

“That you were ace?”

“No! When you were bi or whatever.”

“When I was ten.”

“...Ten.”

June shrugged. “If you think that’s weird, Faye’s basically always known she was gay.”

“...Some people,” Amber was fidgeting. “Like, on the Internet, with my research, some people, like, don’t know until they’re old. Like, thirty or something.”

“Yeah! That’s true. You have a lot of time, Amber.”

Amber narrowed her eyes at June. “I could tell you almost added ‘pie’ to that.”

“This is what differentiates me from Auggie. That, and I won’t tell her or anyone about the name.”

“God, Auggie would, like, not shut up about it if she heard.” Amber paused. “Neither would Faye but for, like, completely different reasons.”

Amber and June both got another text, this one from Senine.

‘Stellos used to be a renowned Stellar Ranger, learned to take stars from a researcher named Kilaua who was his girlfriend. She died. He started taking stars first as revenge then as memorial then for the hell of it. He’s a fucking asshole. Older Rangers can’t fight because the higher ups don’t want people like Vember turning into people like Stellos. The end. PS: The puppet lady‘s an enigma.’

“...Huh.” June said, frowning at her phone. 

“...I guess we’re gonna have to shoot him, or something.” Amber shifted slightly, and then looked up at June.

“Probably. If we don’t, he’s probably going to push me until I explode.”

“And then you destroy the city--like, why? Why is he, you know, doing something that’s, like, probably gonna kill him, too?” Amber made a frustrated motion with her arms. “It, like, doesn’t make any sense?”

“Maybe he thinks he can control it? He can’t, though.” June closed her eyes. She could feel the beat very faintly. It had always been there, in the back of her head, she now realized. She just had not known how or where to look. “I’m the only thing that’s keeping the Penumbra from just unleashing everything in it. I’m the best host for it that Mr. Vember’s ever heard of, and look at how much trouble it causes, anyway?”

“Well, like, you’re not the only one who’s almost killed our friends.” Amber sad down next to June. 

“You only did it because of that puppet lady.”

“Like, so did you.”

June snorted. “Maybe that one time. I’m, what, three times, now?”

“Hey, like, this is my coming out thing?” Amber nudged June. “Maybe save some pity for me?”

“Oh, sooo sorry, Amber.” June said with absolutely no sincerity.

“Like, you better be.” Amber smiled at June.

“I’m glad you turned out to not be too bad a person, you know that?” June smiled back at her.

“Yeah, you better? Because I’m great.”

“Not too bad, anyway.”

Amber’s Mom’s voice rang out from the other side of Amber’s door. “Sweetie! Get your friend and come to the table, your Daddy’s home, so it’s time for dinner.”

“Be right there, Mom!” Amber called back. She took a deep breath. June patted her on the back and stood up.

“You can do it. I’m right here with you.” She extended a hand to Amber.

Amber took it, and stood up. “Right. Yeah. Totally. And if it goes bad, Mr. Vember can, like, wipe their memories or something.”

“Yes! Exactly. Come on.” June lead Amber out, and into the looming specter of dinner.

 

Dinner was a lot of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a green bean casserole. June had wasted very little time in filling her plate as well as wasting very little time in emptying it.

Amber, on the other hand, had barely touched her full plate over the past fifteen minutes of dinner.

Amber’s father, a large man with a big beard and a lot of bulky muscle, sat at the head of the table. “Amber, sweetie, you’re not eatin’. Is everythin’ okay?”

She looked up at him, and then at June. June gave her a nod, then took the chicken leg bone out of her mouth and gave a second nod.

“Yeah. It’s fine. Like, but there’s something I need to tell you.” She took a deep breath and looked down at her meal. “So like there’s a thing and it turns out like that people are like tied to stars and they’re like sort of part of the soul or something and sometimes the stars like give people magic powers and I apparently have them and so does June and I use them to fight bad guys and stuff because like there’s an evil guy who wants to take peoples star hearts and also other bad guys and we’re like the only ones who can stop them. So yeah that’s like what I wanted to say.”

Amber’s parents stared at her. June was not quite sure if she should look at them or at Amber. 

“Amber, honey.” Her father began. “What are you talkin’ about?”

“Is this...a joke?” Her mother looked to June.

“Oh, no, Mrs. Septus, it’s true.” June immediately replied. “We both have magic powers. I know it’s a bit hard to swallow, but--”

“Amber, this ain’t funny.” Her father continued, staring right at her. “I don’t even know what you’re tryin’ to say, here. Magic?”

“Yes.” Amber made eye contact with him, gold eyes stern. She lifted a hand, and her fork lifted into the air. She gestured slightly, and the stainless steel utensil twisted in on itself and forming a heart shape.

Everyone at the table except for June stared at this. Hera was the first to speak.

“Wow! How’d you do that, Amber?”

“It’s easy.” The fork straightened itself back and set itself back on the table. “I can do basically whatever I want with metal.”

Her parents were still staring, now slack-jawed.

“She’s really good at it.” June added. “She’s a natural! I didn’t get the hang of my powers for years, but she was an expert from the get-go.”

Amber glanced at her parents. Her face fell when she saw their shock, and she looked back at Hera and June. “Yeah, well, I had a teacher and stuff, so, like, it’s not that big a deal.”

“What else can you do? Do you think I’ll get powers, too?”

“I have this rifle thing, it’s pretty cool. And..maybe? Like, we have friends who have siblings who have powers and stuff.” Amber looked to June, who gave her an encouraging smile.

“A rifle?! Can I see it?”

Amber‘s mom interjected, “No guns at the dinner table.” She seemed to realize what she had said only after she said it, and looked like she was going to faint.”

“Julie, family room.” Her dad stood on shaky legs. He sounded like he was desperately trying to calm the shake in his voice as well. “Now.”

Amber’s mother nodded and stood, and the two of them immediately ran off to the other room.

Amber slunk down a bit farther into her seat. Hera, meanwhile, got out of her chair and ran over to her sister. “Okay, Mom’s gone! I wanna see your gun!”

 

About half an hour later, Amber and June were both sitting against the wall, near the family room. From the other side of the door, they heard loud arguing, punctuated occasionally with flat-out yelling.

“Maybe you should call Vember.” Amber said, looking at her hands.

“Are you sure?” June looked over at her, trying to catch at least the corner of her eye.

Amber nodded. “Yeah. Like, you did your part as Miss Leader Girl but like...they were never gonna be happy, you know?”

“I’m sorry. I wish it could’ve been b...wait. Wait wait wait back the heck up.” June’s voice turned incredulous. “You...think of me as the leader? The girl you keep saying is going to blow us all up some day. Me.”

“Sorry if it’s true? Look.” Amber turned slightly towards June. “Senine’s the leader-leader, cause, like, she has experience and stuff, but aside from her? Everyone follows your lead. You’re the leader.”

“Well, yeah, I knew Senine was in charge, but, I didn’t even think we needed one? We’re a team, we work together.”

“Oh my God do you even hear how much leader-sounding you are right now?”

June groaned. “I just don’t see it, okay? Faye’s more likeable. Cassie’s pretty devoted and compassionate. Auggie’s really good at strategy and stuff, even if she doesn’t see it. And you, well, you’re pretty much the most practical person on the team.”

“June you, like, literally could not be more leaderly right now.”

“Okay.” June typed away on her phone. “I’m sending a text to Mr. Vember, then we’re getting the others together and talking about this.”

Only moments after June hit ‘send’, there was a knock at the door.

Hera was the one to answer it. She took one look at Mr. Vember and said, “Oh my God, are you a wizard?”

 

Twenty minutes later, Faye, June, Auggie, Cassie, and Amber were having ice cream at a local ice cream chain. June was blushing very slightly.

“I can’t believe you all think I’m the leader. I’m the exploding one!”

“You are the best option for the job, June.” Cassie said in between bites of her brownie sundae.

“I think you’re a great leader, Junie!” Faye beamed. “But I’m also a bit biased.”

“Oh my God, you guys. Shut up.” June covered her face in her hands.

“Face it, Junie. You’re the boss.” Auggie nudged her.

Amber, meanwhile, was staring into her orange sherbet. Faye did not miss this moment of distress and immediately put a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh! Faye. Yeah. I mean. I’m fine.” Amber wiped her face. Her arm came back damp. “I just. I want to know what they’re, like, talking about? I want to know if my Mom and Dad are like--like-” Amber sniffled again, and held her napkin to her face. “Wow, gross, sorry.”

“It’s okay. You have us.” Faye hugged her, and looked to her friends. “We’re like your family, right?”

“Sure!” Auggie said with a grin. “You’re like the sister I never wanted but I stick with anyway, because of family.” Auggie’s spoon warped slightly. None of the girls at the table noticed it.

Cassie nodded in agreement. “We’re all something of a family, I would say. We have, after all, faced certain death together.”

“I fully agree with Faye!” June concluded. “No matter how bad this might get, we’re your friends, and we’ll be there for you.”

“Oh my God.” Amber looked at the others. “She just, like, leadered the hell out of us.”

June groaned and let her head hit the table.

 

******

 

The next day, at school, Amber did not even make it into the school. She went to the front steps and sank down onto them, with her head in her hands.

“Hey.” Came a familiar voice. “What’s wrong?”

Amber looked up, and nearly froze up, much like an antelope staring down a tiger. “Lynneth.”

Lynneth Ursula Card looked down at her with a friendly smile. “Hey, I’m not here to bite your head off. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, just. Nothing you care about.” Amber slumped down a bit more.

“Look, Amber, you’ve been making a lot of progress.” Lynneth said, just a little power behind her words. “I just want to help. What’s up?”

“...I had a fight with my parents. They’re letting me do the thing I asked them about, but...they’re not happy about it. At all. And it feels like they don’t like me?” Amber sighed. “It almost feels, like, they’re afraid of me, or something.”

Lynneth nodded. “Well, it might seem grim, but it’s a start, you know? They’re scared, but they’re giving you a chance, it sounds like. Maybe they’ll come around. And if they don’t, if they make life too hard for you, you’ll always have options, okay?”

Amber smiled slightly. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“I usually am.”

“Thanks, Lynneth.” Amber looked a lot happier, now. “Sorry I was, like, such a bitch in the past.”

Lynneth patted her on the shoulder and stood. “It’s fine. You’re better now, right? Take care, and know can always come to me if you have a problem.”

“I will. That’s, like, what a cheer captain’s for, right?”

She nodded, smiling brightly. “Of course. No matter what, I’ll always be there for my team.”

And Lynneth knew that, whether or not she knew it, Amber would be there for her.


	16. Episode Sixteen:  Missing Persons

June rolled over in bed with a groan. Morning had come once again, and the horrible siren call of school was ringing in her ears. She sat up and stretched, eyes closed.  
When she opened them, she saw a tall, dark figure, standing in the corner of her room. June jerked with a start and manifested her daggers. In the time it took for her to manifest her weapons and get into fighting form, however, the figure vanished.

Before June could process these events fully, a rapid knock came at her door. June hopped out of bed and rushed to the door. She threw it open, and saw Cassie and Auggie on the other side, as per usual.

“Wow, I’m so glad to see you guys.” She looked behind her, towards the corner of her room, and then back at the others. “I think I saw something really creepy, and while it could have just been a dream, I think that--”

She was unprepared for Auggie and Cassie to push past her as if she was not there, nearly knocking her over in the process.

“Junie?” Auggie called, glancing around the room. “Junie!”

“I can’t sense her in here.” Cassie said, standing directly next to June.

“...Guys?” June poked Auggie. She reflexively rubbed her arm, but did not otherwise respond.

“Maybe she’s peeing?” Auggie left the room. A moment later, June heard her loudly knocking on the bathroom door, and then that same door slowly creaking open.

“Nope!”

Cassie walked over to the bed and investigated it. June followed her.

“Cassie, this isn’t funny. I’m right here.” She tapped the other girl on the shoulder. She shrugged it off.

“She was here recently!” Cassie called back. Julius entered the room a moment later.

“What happened? Is June o...kay?” He glanced around. “Where’s June?”

Auggie zipped in behind him. “No idea. I’m kinda worried, but, hey! Maybe she’s having a sleepover with Faye or something. Then she’d be the second Hespia to be having a sleepover.”

Julius blushed, and June put her hands over her ears. “Oh my god you did not just talk about _my brother’s sex life_ while _spooky stuff_ is happening.”

She now heard Leah’s voice from the hall. “Is everything okay?”

“Hopefully!” Auggie replied, and then said, “Wow, Leah, I haven’t seen you without pants, before, but it’s a good look on you.”

“Perhaps we should focus, Augusta.” Cassie called. June grabbed her arm and pulled. Cassie let out a yelp and stumbled to the side. “What on Earth was that?”  
Auggie pushed past Julius and into the room. “Oh, sweetie! What happened? Are you okay?”

“I am. I must have slept on my arm wrong. And...then I almost fell? For some reason?” Cassie held her head. “Something is not right, here.”

“Wow, really?” June said. “Maybe June’s _here_ but you can’t _see_ her?”

“Maybe June is here?” Cassie suggested. “And we cannot see or hear her?”

“Oh.” June looked around, and then walked over to one of her guitars. No one seemed to notice.

“So, what, she shoved you or something? Wow, nice, Junie.” 

Leah was now in the room, and she was indeed not wearing any pants. June tried not to stare, but it was hard not to admire her brother’s taste. She focused and resumed her task of plugging her guitar into its amp.

“Maybe something’s screwing with our perceptions of reality.” Leah adjusted her glasses and straightened out her bed-hair. “With regards to June, but let’s not jump to conclusions. Is there anywhere else she could be?”

June played a loud, hard chord. No one so much as twitched. June decided to try a different approach, and slung the guitar around Cassie. Neither she nor anyone else in the room, save June, immediately noticed.

“Your place? With Faye.” Auggie suggested, but Leah shook her head.

“No, Amber stayed the night with Faye, she’s been doing it a lot since she came out.” Leah bit her lip. “Look around the room, see if anything’s changed. She might be trying to tell us something.”

“Wait.” Julius suddenly said. “Are you saying that my sister might be both missing and in the same room as us?”

“It is a good thing you’re pretty.” Auggie said, before glancing around. Cassie also looked around, one hand tapping the bridge of the guitar. She accidentally strummed one of the strings and everyone in the room that was not June jumped at the sudden sound.

“When’d you pick that up, Cass?” Auggie poked the instrument.

Cassie was looking down at it, completely flabbergasted. “I...have no idea. Maybe when I came in? But I don’t...I’m not certain why I would do such a thing.”

“Maybe you didn’t.” Leah was pacing the room, now. “Maybe that was June trying to get in contact with you.”

June rummaged around in her backpack and removed a pen and paper. She scribbled a note down on it, and then slipped it between the strings of the guitar.

“Look!” Julius said, striding forward and taking the note from the guitar. “She must’ve put this in it before she slid it around your neck.” He opened the note and stared at it for a moment. “Why would she put this in it? It’s scribbles.”

June went on her tip-toes and craned her neck over her brother’s arms. She clearly saw a message stating that she was in the room, with them, right now.

“Let me see.” Leah walked over to her boyfriend and took the note. She studied it for a moment. “...Whatever’s keeping us from seeing her must be keeping us from understanding anything she does.”

“So when she put the guitar on me, I ignored it, as she was the one who instigated it.” Cassie suggested. She removed the guitar and placed it on the bed.

“Right.” Leah pointed at her. “And whatever’s effecting her has a lingering effect, which is why we can’t read the note.”

Auggie thought for a second, and pulled out her phone. “Maybe we can take a picture of it? Send it to Faye and see if she can read it?”

June breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned towards her bed. In the corner was a tall, spindly creature with four long, thin legs and four long, thin arms. June jumped, sparks running down her arms, but it was gone once again before her weapons could manifest.

“Send...what to Faye?” Leah asked, still holding the note.

“...I don’t remember.” Auggie looked at her phone, and then at Leah. “Why’re we in Junie’s room? Where is Junie?”

June’s heart sunk.

Cassie stared blankly for a moment. She looked to Julius, Leah, and Auggie. “June is missing. I think we were trying to find out where she was and something made us forget.”

“...Huh?”

“Why are we all in this room? Why is Leah here despite not having any pants on? We were trying to figure something important out, involving June, and then...”

“Oh!” Leah called out. “Oh. Right. June’s...June’s...” She started to pace again. “It’s on the tip of my brain. June’s...she’s here! That’s right.”

The others who were not June gave Leah a blank stare. June, however, was looking at her in awe. “I swear, Leah, if you weren’t my brother’s girlfriend I would kiss you.”

“Sweetie,” Julius began, putting his hand on her back. “What are you talking about? Where’s June?”

“Something’s messing with our perceptions of her, and I think it just messed with our ability to remember that we’re being messed with.”

Cassie started to say something, but paused when she noticed a note in her hand. “Oh! Could she have given me this?”

Leah dropped the note she was holding, with no apparent memory of why she had it in the first place. “Yeah! She could have. What’s it say?”

“No!” June called out. “No no no that’s not mine.”

“It says, ‘Don’t worry too much about me. Maybe Mr. Vember can fix it? I’m fine for now--June.’”

“You can’t read my writing, it’s not mine even if it is a good idea!”

“I’ll give Dad a call.” Leah said, and then looked down. “Maybe also put on some pants.”

“Don’t hurry on our account!” Auggie called with a smile as Leah left the room.

Cassie rolled her eyes. 

Julius was still looking around the room. June rushed over to him and nudged him on the shoulder. “Julius, listen! That wasn’t my note. If you can hear me at all, that wasn’t my note. I don’t like this. Please, Julius. Isn’t there like a big sibling bond that we can exploit or something?”

Julius continued to look nervous, and did not respond in any way to what June was saying. June stomped the floor in frustration, and walked over to Cassie. She grabbed Cassie by the hair and pulled. Cassie let out a cry of alarm and batted away June’s hand.

“What the...June? June, was that you?” Cassie glanced around, and then focused on June. “June! Why would you pull my hair like that?! It hurt quite a bit.”

“Cassie?” June’s eyes widened. “Cassie, you can see me?”

“Of course I can, why wouldn’t I....Oh.” Cassie seemed to shake something off. “You have been here this whole time. I...you put the guitar on me. You yanked my arm rather hard. And pulled my hair. Did I do something to offend you?”

“No, it’s...look, it doesn’t matter. I keep seeing a weird spindly thing and I’ll buy you ice cream later but something bad is going to happen. You have to tell Leah not to call Vember here, I didn’t write that note.”

“Oh, right, yes, we can focus on you being disproportionately mean to me at a later date.” Cassie turned to Auggie. “Auggie, we need to tell Leah to not--”

She was interrupted when Auggie glanced around like Cassie was not there, and said, “That’s weird. Where’d Cassie go?”

 

Auggie glanced around the room. “Where’d Cassie go? Wasn’t she just here?”

“Cassie?” Julius replied. “I thought you came here alone?”

“...No, that’s not right. Cassie was here, and now she isn’t.”

“Oh, damnit.” June’s face fell with dawning panic. She turned to Cassie. “I’m so sorry, I just wanted to make sure you knew I was there and something was wrong and subtlety doesn’t work when we’re like this.”

Cassie walked over to Auggie and tapped her on the shoulder. “...What’s going on, June?”

“I don’t know. There’s a creepy thing around here, but it keeps vanishing. I think it’s behind it, but I don’t know where it goes when I can’t see it.”

Cassie frowned. “Or, perhaps, if it is responsible, it is messing with our perceptions of it?”

“This is really freaking me out.” Auggie brushed off her shoulder. “I hope Mr. Vember gets here, soon.”

“Oh.” June really wished she had thought of that. “Yeah, right.” She looked at her hands. “...Cassie? Come over here, a sec.”

“Are you planning on injuring me, again?” Cassie did as she was told, regardless.

June leaned in and whispered to Cassie, “Close your eyes.”

Cassie closed her eyes, and then the whole room went dark. June closed her own eyes and said, “Sorry, bro and Auggie.” As they shouted cries of alarm, those faded into shouts of surprise and pain as the dark room suddenly erupted in a bright flash of light.

Something else also screamed in pain. In the back corner of June’s room, the dark, spindly figure could once again be seen. It held its face with all four arms and made a stumbling rush for the door.

“What the fuck was that?!” Julius yelled as he was blinking the flare from his eyes.

“I don’t know, but I’m going after it.” Auggie zoomed out of the room before Julius could offer any sort of reply.

“I guess I’ll just stay here and see if June tries to contact us again?” He said to no one, unaware that neither June nor Cassie was still in the room with them.

 

***

 

Cassie and June burst onto the street several moments after Auggie had. June was breathing heavily, and was also still in her nightgown. Cassie touched her shoulder, and June’s exhaustion quickly faded away.

Auggie was standing at an intersection near June’s house, her phone at her ear. She was glancing left and right very quickly, and was also bouncing up and down on her heels.

“She must have lost track of it, once it hit the street.” Cassie approached her best friend.

“What even is that thing?” June followed behind her. “Have you ever heard of something like that, before?”

“No. But perhaps this is its power?”

“You think it’s a Hollow Heart?” June closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. “I can usually sense them, but I’m not really getting anything from this one.”

“Perhaps it’s preventing that as well.” Cassie tapped her chin. “Why do you think it changed perceptions for me?”

“Maybe it was because I pulled your hair and there’s not really another explanation for that when you’re standing still? Like when I pulled your arm.”

“That did make people realize I was there. But....what’s this thing’s objective?”

“I don’t know. It gave you that note to call Mr. Vember. It must want him here for some reason.” June tapped her chin. “We need a way to find it, and to get the others to find us somehow.”

Auggie was now talking on her phone. “Hey, Faye-Faye, could you come by June’s apartment? Bring Amber. Something weird happened and maybe your nose could help out.”

“Oh.”

“Your girlfriend does have a very nice nose.” Cassie looked back up at the building. “I am not sure it will work, however.”

“Yeah, and if Vember’s showing up, it’ll be up there.” June sighed, and pulled out her phone. “How about you stay down here, with Auggie, and see if Faye can smell you. I’ll head back up to the apartment and see if Vember’s here and make sure it doesn’t do whatever it’s going to do with him.”

“Are you sure splitting up is a good idea?” Cassie gently shook Auggie, but Auggie did not respond.

“Nope, but it’s basically the only plan we have. Whatever this thing’s doing, we can’t let it get away with it.” June put her phone away. “I’ll go up there and try to come down as soon as possible.”

Cassie nodded, still shaking Auggie, with one hand in her purse. June turned and made her way into the apartment building. Once inside, she went to the stairwell and started up the six flights of stairs towards her apartment.

Three flights passed without incident. On the third landing, however, as soon as her foot touched carpet, she caught a glimpse of something tall and dark behind her. She turned to face it, and two long, thin hands grabbed her around the neck, lifting her into the air before smashing her against the back wall of the landing. She manifested her daggers, but two more thin hands grabbed her wrists and smashed them into the wall, too.  
June saw one large, yellow eye, staring at her from behind a face shrouded in thick, black hair. It wore a grey uniform rather than a red and gold one, but the badge of a Stellar Sword was visible on its narrow breast.

“Finally.” Feldane, the third Stellar Sword, said as her long fingers tightened around June’s throat. “We’re alone.”

June struggled against the grip, but the bony fingers were far too tight. Breath became harder with every outgoing breath. 

“I knew I should have done this in the night, but the risk that the witch would bring her father here if your brother heard you dying was too strong. But here.” June caught a glimpse several rows of triple-sharp, needle-thin teeth. “Here they are all too busy to find you. No one who can stop the lights from going slowly out.”

June’s vision started to fade, but she still managed to see the blade of a familiar scythe come down and slash through two of Feldane’s four arms.

The Stellar Sword shrieked and dropped June, retreating away from June and Cassie with a shriek. Cassie immediately rushed over to June and gave her a jolt of life energy. June was standing almost immediately, daggers in hand.

“I am so glad you checked your phone.”

“As am I.” Cassie raised her scythe.

“How could you have known?” Feldane hissed. Her stumps were leaking a thick, black fluid. “How?!”

“Oh, I didn’t.” June shifted her grip on her daggers. “But splitting up in creepy situations is always a bad idea, so I let Cassie know on the down low that I might need help.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Feldane stepped towards the corner. “You’ll be vulnerable again. You won’t see me coming, and your friends, well, they’ll never find you.”

Cassie lunged with a slash, but the back corner was now just empty space.

“...That’s not good.” June dismissed her daggers.

“No, it’s...” Cassie stopped, her gaze on the ground. “It’s not. Let’s go see if Faye gets here soon.”

“Right, she still might be able to smell us.”

Cassie frowned, and nodded. Both of them made their way back down the stairs, and onto the street.

 

“Junie’s missing????” Faye’s eyes were wide, and her voice held an edge of panic.

“Yeah, but she’s probably still around here somewhere. There’s a spooky thing happening.” Auggie replied. They were still in front of the building, now an hour into the school day.

Amber sighed. “Spooky thing? Really?”

“Look, we can’t see or hear June or Cassie, but they’re probably around here, somewhere.” Auggie looked at Amber. “If that’s not a spooky thing, I’m all up for anything you can say it is, otherwise.”

Amber glared at Auggie. Auggie gave Amber a level stare. Neither of them noticed a nearby streetlight shake, or the light flare despite it being off.

Faye, meanwhile, was sniffing. “I think I smell Junie! And Cassie. And--” Faye made a disgusted motion. “Oh, ew! What is that?”

“What’s what?” Auggie approached Faye.

“There’s a horrible smell! It’s like...blood that’s kinda rotten and stinky. You guys can’t smell that?” Faye looked at her other two friends.

Amber shook her head. “No? You have freaky dog senses, Faye, we talked about this. Remember the dog whistle.”

Faye shuddered. “I hate that whistle. But yeah, there’s a really, really strong smell and it’s really, really nasty.”

“Can you follow it?” Auggie asked, slipping her badge on.

“Yeah! Do you think it’ll help find Junie?” Faye wiped her lips.

“Well.” June said, pulling her lips away from Faye’s. “That didn’t work.”

“It was worth a try.” She shrugged. “I suppose now I do not have to kiss Auggie.”

“It might help us find who did it to...” Auggie trailed off, and looked around. “Wasn’t...” She looked at Amber. “Wasn’t Faye-Faye just here?”

Faye blinked, and looked over at June. She was blushing brightly. “Did you just kiss me?”

“Oh! Uh.” June shuffled. “It was. I was trying that whole. Uh. True love kiss thing. To break the Stellar Sword who trapped us outside of perception’s spell.”

“L-love?” Faye’s eyes were wide. She took June’s hand. Both of them blushed.

“Can we please focus?” Cassie said, her face in her palm. “I understand that you are having a moment but there is still a Stellar Sword trapping us so she can kill you.”

“Right. Right, focus.” June pulled away from Faye, and turned to her. “It probably trapped you like this because you can lead the others to it. Aaaand it’s probably going to use your nose to lead the three of us into a trap.”

“....It tried to kill my Junie?” Faye growled.

“A little. Cassie saved me. Now come on, we should try to...I guess...fall into its trap?”

Cassie sighed and shook her head. “That does seem to be the best option. Unfortunately.”

Faye was still growling under her breath but nodded. She sniffed again, and started towards a nearby alley.

 

All three girls had their weapons out when they reached the mid-point of the alley. Faye was on all fours and sniffing the ground, a few paces in front of the others.

“The blood’s strongest here.” She sat on her haunches. June rubber her behind the ears, and she leaned into the touch.

Cassie closed her eyes and extended her scythe, blade down. “I cannot quite sense anything, but I’m sure it’s--”

A spear point protruded from the front of Cassie’s belly. The point was violently removed, and the girl was shoved onto the ground by the spindly figure behind her.

“Cassie!” June shouted, and stepped forward. Her body was starting to spark with black and white energy.

“No more ambushing. No more friends to help. Just the two of you, versus a Stellar Sword.”

Faye’s claws were out. She lowered herself into a pouncing position. June’s daggers were glowing with black and white fire. Feldane lifted her spear. Her form blurred, and beside her appeared two identical images of her.

“Prepare to have your stars taken by my Master, children.” The Feldanes stepped over Cassie’s body with matching motions. Each one of them blurred and shifted.

“We would be, but, well...” June smirked slightly. “You were a bit too quick with the ‘no more ambushing’ thing.”

“Fatal Flora!” Came Cassie behind them. Thorny vines pushed themselves up from the broken asphalt beneath them. Two of the Feldanes disappeared, and the third cursed loudly, pulling at her four legs in shock.

Cassie was bent over, holding one hand on her stomach. Her whole body was glowing bright green. “Sorry to disappoint. I’m somewhat difficult to kill.”

“I’ll just have to try again.” Feldane snarled. She swiped down at the vines and cut through them, though the thorns clung to her four thin legs. She turned around, spear high and lunged at Cassie. She dodged to the side, but the Stellar Sword vanished before she could retaliate.

June ran to Cassie, and Faye lunged over them, claws digging into the ground where Feldane had once been.

“Are you okay, Cassie?” June asked. 

“Mostly. This is very aggravating.”

Faye started sniffing again. “She’s not far. She’s bleeding more, I can still smell her...but I can’t figure out where she is.”

“She’s probably right in front of us.” June said, standing at the ready.

Faye tensed, and then lifted her head and howled. Cassie felt her waning energy very slightly bolstered, and June felt equally invigorated.

Behind them, a barely-visible visible figure doubled over, her two remaining arms over her ears. June spun around, and her dagger Albedo came with her, shooting out and slamming right into the midsection of the hazy figure. Feldane let out a cry of alarm and ripped the dagger from her chest. She tried to slip back into a hazy form, but Faye lept at her, ripping deep, rending gashes in her back and knocking her to the ground.

Feldane looked up at the three Stellar Rangers, narrowed her eye, and tapped her badge. A flash of red and gold covered her, and then she vanished.

June walked over to Faye and pulled her up. Cassie pulled out her phone and sent a message. “Let’s hope Auggie can actually read this one.”

 

****

 

“Wait wait.” Auggie pulled away from Amber and fumbled in her purse. “Oh, God, Cassie and the others were missing. We forgot they were missing. We were too busy--”

“Nothing.” Amber said, face as red as her hair. “We were busy with nothing.”

“Right! Right.” Auggie was also very flushed. “So. They’re in an alley, over there.”

They stepped out of an alcove by the door to the apartment building, and towards the alley. They did not make eye contact through the entire trip.

 

“Hey.” June waved to the others as they approached, taking a deep breath.

“Junie! Hey!” Auggie waved to both of them. “And Cassie! And Faye-Faye! Wow, I’m so sorry, you guys, I completely forgot you were even oh my God Cassie you’re covered in blood.”

Auggie rushed over to Cassie and grabbed her hands. “What happened, are you hurt?”

“Not anymore.” Cassie looked down at her shirt, which had a ragged hole through it.

Amber was looking away from the group.

“Okay.” June took a deep breath. “We need to make some changes. That was the Stellar Swords’ assassin, I’m guessing. She can do...things with how others perceive something. I’m not sure how. But even though we wrecked her stuff, she’s still alive. Maybe the other Stellar Swords are still alive, too. But from now on, none of us goes anywhere alone. Not until we beat them for good.”

“Can we?” Amber asked, without looking to them. “Like, on their own they’re tough. There’s been, like, three of them so far? How many are there?”

 

*****

 

“Feldane, Feldane, Feldane.” Baron Stellos sighed. Her blooded form was resting on a hospital bed in the Royal Infirmary. A bandaged Temper was on the bed next to her. “Perhaps I have been too lenient on the lot of you? Perhaps your egos have gotten the better of you, for you to behave so pathetically.”

“I apologize, Baron.” Feldane grimaced, and then shuddered as a nurse bandaged her back wounds. “It will not happen again.”

“No.” Stellos looked behind him, and saw a small figure, dressed in bright colors, silhouetted in the entryway.

“Isn’t that right, Lada? Have you taken the other three’s humbling to heart?”

“Of course, my Lord.” Came a small voice. “I will learn, and I will act, and my success, or my failure, will be a learning experience for us all.”


	17. Episode 17:  A Chaste Kiss

June’s head nodded, and her eyes closed. She slumped a bit lower in her desk, her body going limp. Her mouth opened just slightly, and her head lolled to the side.

“June!” Mrs. Crabtree suddenly shouted. June flailed, eyes shooting open, and nearly fell out of her desk. The class around her erupted in giggles as June gave her teacher a sheepish look.

“Oh! Uh. Sorry Mrs. Crabtree.”

“Try to stay awake until the study hall, if you could.” Mrs. Crabtree said as she moved back up to the front of the room.

June sunk down in her chair and sighed. She looked over at Auggie and Cassie. Auggie looked just as tired as June felt, but Cassie looked like she always did. Amber and Faye had different schedules for Science with Mrs. Crabtree, but June suspected that they looked much like they had before class--exhausted.

The bell rang after what felt like an eternity. June got up and started out of the room, moving slowly and feeling like she was going even slower. As tired as she was, however, her heart still skipped a beat when she saw Senine Nocturne waiting outside.

“...Ugh.” Auggie said as she pushed past June. “I must be asleep because I’m pretty sure I’m having a nightmare.”

“You definitely are.” Senine said, leaning against the doorframe. “And I must be, too, because I’m in the middle of middle school again.”

“Is everything okay?” June asked, after realizing that she can talk. 

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Senine shrugged. “Vember wanted me to come over here and check on you.” She gave a little laugh. “That’s what he said, but I’m pretty sure he’s more worried about me and wants you kids to keep an eye on me.”

“We’re only two years younger than you.” Cassie said, pushing out into the hallway herself. Up close, June could see her hands shaking very slightly, and the occasional spark of green energy.

“Right. Kids.” Senine said with a very slight smirk. “I dropped by Red and Faye’s class, first. Faye was sleeping on the desk. Apparently she bit Miss Calhoun when she tried to wake her up. I am so disappointed that I missed that.”

Auggie, who had been tuning out the conversation, and also falling asleep on her feet, snapped awake. “Oh, God, me too. Were there teeth marks?”

“I can’t tell.” Senine stretched, and June found her eyes drawn to her mid rift. “But she’s wearing a bandage.”

“Ha! Yes! I need to give Faye-Faye a high five!”

“So.” Senine looked at the three of them. “You’re all alive, so I think my job’s pretty much done.” She turned to leave. “Catch you later, don’t die when I’m not around.”

Before she could leave, however, Amber and Faye ran up to them.

“Guys!” Faye said, alarm in her voice. “Guys guys guys there’s something weird outside and you should come look like now!”

“Faye!” Cassie said, aggravation apparent in her voice. “We’ve seen the snow.”

“No, it’s...” Faye shrank back. “It’s in the snow.”

“...Oh. I’m...” Cassie held her head. “Sorry. Let’s. Just go.”

 

The girls arrived at the back door for the school, leading out onto the parking lot, and, further back, the football field. They saw two things immediately--a crowd of teenagers and children gathering and the teachers trying--unsuccessfully--to get them inside, and clouds of rising smoke and steam from the football field.

“This is a day full of vicarious longing.” Senine said as she pushed through the door, the Junior Rangers behind her. “I can’t believe that someone else set the football field on fire.”

Amber brushed by Auggie. They shared a look, and then immediately looked away from each other, before stepping to opposite sides of the group.

“Excuse me!” Miss Calhoun, who did indeed have a bandaged hand, called after them. “You can’t go out there! The police are coming.”

“Don’t care!” Senine called back, waving at her in turn and slipping her badge on. “Girls, badges.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Stellar Ranger badges came on the rest of them, and Miss Calhoun stopped looking at them. The girls trudged through the half-inch of powdery snow on the parking lot, and out to the Jr. varsity football field.

Senine was the first to reach it, and her smile immediately fell. Her hands balled into fists, and she scowled.

June stepped up beside her, and her eyes went wide. Burned into the football field in red letters still glowing from heat was a message.

‘stellar ranger dark star  
‘you are cordially challenged to a duel by the old laws of the stellar rangers.  
‘the time is the sunset.  
‘the park below the tower.  
‘sealed with a chaste kiss-  
‘lada, stellar sword’

“....Well...” Cassie said, eyeing the message. “Considering their past record of attacking us when divided or vulnerable, this is, at least, a refreshing reprieve.”

“Like, right?” Amber said. “I can get easy sniper coverage of that battle, no problem.”

“No.” Senine said, voice abrupt and commanding. “No ambushes.”

June gave her a surprised look. Faye grabbed June’s hand and grabbed her protectively. “She’s not doing that duel.”

“That’s right.” Senine turned to the others. “She’s not. I am.”

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Seni?” Faye asked. They were in one of the library of the tower, now. Senine was sitting on a table with a stack of old books next to her. Faye and the others were sitting at the table in chairs, except for Faye, who was sitting on June’s lap.

“It’s the only idea.” Senine flipped open one of the books and started to put it down in front of Auggie, pulled it back, and put it down in front of Cassie.

Auggie did not notice. She was sitting across from Amber, and both of them were shifting in their seats.

Senine leaned back and pointed to a line. “It’s Stellar Ranger duel law. June’s a Junior Ranger--she can’t accept the duel even if she wanted to. Vember or I would have to accept it on her behalf. And while I could accept it for her, I’m not going to. I’m going to accept it myself and pound this Stellar Sword into a ploughshear.”

“By yourself?” Auggie asked.

Immediately after Auggie said something, Amber yelped, and shot her a dirty look. When everyone turned to look at her, she pretended like it was her clearing her throat. “Yeah, Senine, last time you fought a Stellar Sword, like, with a group? You couldn’t even scratch him.”

“It was the Stellar Sword whose power was being unscratchable.” Senine stood up. “They probably don’t have two of those, and also, this isn’t going to be up for discussion. I’m doing the duel.”

“Why?” June asked, wanting to stand but having a lap full of Faye.

Cassie spoke instead. “If she refuses the duel outright, it could be cause for Stellos to declare war against us.”

“...Okay, I’m game.” Auggie said, shifting very suddenly and shooting Amber a dirty look. “How’s that different from right now?”

Senine moved to the window and looked out of it. “It’s different because right now he’s only sending up to a handful of soldiers at a time. If war’s declared, he can send his whole army down without fear that the Rangers will reprise in force.”

“...Wait.” June said, peeking out from around her girlfriend. “So...so what he’s doing is...legal?”

“Yep! A hundred percent in regulations.” Senine turned around and threw up her arms. “He’s from a registered nation, he’s a war hero, and he’s doing things by the book. Welcome to the shit you learn from being a full Ranger.”

“Why don’t we get Mr. Vember to do it?” Faye asked. “He’s strong, right?”

“We don’t need Vember for this.” Senine made sure to look each of them in the eye. “I can handle this. I have to handle this on my own.”

June stared at her for a moment before something in her head clicked. “You’re not expendable.”

Senine froze. “I know.”

Faye immediately leapt up and ran over to her adoptive sister. “You’re not! You’re not.” She wrapped her in a hug. “Tell me you know that you’re not.”

“...Look. I have less time than the rest of you. I can take risks like this--and I’m the best fighter in this group, AND I’m not at risk for exploding if I’m pushed to desperation.” Senine pried Faye away. “I’m going to be doing this. There’s no discussion.”

The others looked at each other, and then back at Senine. They said nothing until pushed her way through the door and into the tower proper.

 

Senine sat down on a bench, underneath the tower. The sun was still high in the sky, despite the rapid approach of the shortest day of the year. She looked to the horizon and sighed, before slumping down in her seat.

“I suppose.” Cassie said from behind her, before leaning on the back of the bench. “That I would be one of the last one would expect to come down to talk to you about this, but I voted myself to do such before Faye or June could volunteer.”

“Heh.” Senine cracked a small smile. “That sounds familiar.”

“I gathered that some part of your volunteering amounted to Faye’s safety.”

“If I had been a second later, you know she would’ve volunteered.” Senine sighed with a fond smile. “I never knew cheerleaders could be so likeable.”

“They are right, you know.” Cassie sat down next to Senine. “You’re not expendable.”

“You know?” Senine glanced over at Cassie. “I’m really loving all this confidence everyone has in my skills. It feels great.”

“They have points. You’re well aware that the Stellar Swords thusfar have been no laughing matter.”

Senine extended her hand. A handful of quarters lifted themselves from the fountain. She lowered it, and they all slammed back down into the water. “This is the only option.”

“What of Mr. Vember?”

“That doesn’t send the right message.”

Cassie watched her, rather than speak. Senine was staring into the fountain, and did not look away when she said, “If we need Vember to take down one of them, then that doesn’t say anything about us except that we can’t handle it and never thought we could. I’ll meet the challenge, and I’ll win.”

Cassie put her hand on Senine’s shoulder. Senine closed her eyes and let out a pained, shaky sigh. “Thanks. I needed a bit of. Anti-death.”

“I know.” Cassie pulled her hand away, a lingering green glow between it and Senine’s shoulder.

“You can’t convince me to not do this. It needs to be me.” 

Cassie stood and brushed herself off. “I have no intention of stopping you. I only have one request--despite what I may have said when I was angry about the misunderstood relationship between you and my paramour, I would very much like it if you did not die.”

Senine smirked. “You know, despite my deathwish, I wasn’t exactly planning on it. I have a request, too. Tell the others to not cheat on my behalf.”

Cassie composure broke for a moment. “Oh, I doubt they would try that.”

 

“Okay,” June said, back in the library. “how can we cheat?”

“We really shouldn’t.” Faye replied. She was sitting on the table next to June. “We could get into a war or something and make things worse.”

“You know, like,” Amber came out from behind a set of bookshelves. “People don’t, like, normally get the chance to complain about being sniped.”

“I hate to say it, but Metal-butt has a point.” Auggie stepped out from behind the other side of the row of bookshelves. “We could hit this Sword with a surprise attack.”

“Oooor!” June stood up. “Amber could screw with whatever weapon they use.”

“We really shouldn’t, guys.” Faye grabbed June’s arm. “It could cause a lot of trouble for everyone.”

Cassie came into the room at that point. “If you’re talking about cheating, as I know you must be, I should tell you that Senine has expressly forbade it.”

“Like, so?” Amber asked. “The point of cheating is that it’s not allowed?”

“I’m with Amber on this one.” Auggie stepped up next to her. Cassie mumbled something about footsie, which both Auggie and Amber pretended to not hear.

“...No, no.” June slumped down into her chair again. “Cassie’s right. No one cheats.”

“But!” Auggie started to say.

“It’s four to two.” June crossed her arms. “I don’t like not cheating but I think that’s what we need to do. If...if she loses.” She took a deep breath. “If she loses, then we do everything we can to keep her alive. We should trust that Senine can do it on her own.”

Amber and Auggie were pouting.

June rolled her eyes. “When there’s less riding in it, then you guys can cheat on a duel.”

“Ugh.” Amber grunted. “Fine.”

June turned to Cassie. “Can...can we watch, at least?”

She nodded. “Since she is doing it on your behalf, it’s actually encouraged for you to show up.”

“Okay.” June suddenly smiled brightly. She looked to Faye and Amber. “Actually! I have a really good idea that is also kind of weird. Can you guys get your uniforms by sunset?”

 

*****

The sun was just above the horizon, and the Junior Rangers were sitting on the benches, save for two very cold cheerleaders standing in front of them.

“This is so dumb.” Amber said, shivering in her leggings. “We’re cheering a freaking duel.”

“I think it’s nice!” Faye replied. She did not have leggings, she just had a thin layer of fur.

Senine stood in front of them with one leg up on the fountain, and the Pulsar Sledge over her shoulder.

The wind picked up, and powdery snow drifted past them. Everyone but Senine shivered at the sudden wind.

Someone was floating on the other side of the fountain. She was a small girl in a big, poofy red and gold dress, the Stellar Sword symbol embroidered into it at several places, and a badge over her heart. Her skin was white and completely smooth, and her six eyes were glittered like a spider’s, though they were pink instead of black. Her blue-black hair was in eight very neat tails on the top, sides, and back of her head. She had four upper arms, each one with two forearms at the elbow. When she spoke, her very prominent fangs were extremely visible.

“I am here for the duel. I trust I will not be stood up?”

Senine shifted her weight forward. “As the only full Ranger present, I accept the duel on Stellar Ranger Dark Star’s behalf. I am Steller Ranger Void.”

Lada, the fourth Stellar Sword, looked past Senine, right to June. “Do you accept her as a surrogate, Dark Star.”

June nodded. She felt like she was going to be sick.

“Go Senine!” Faye lifted her pompoms and cheered.

“Yeah! Kick that Stellar Sword’s rear, Gothy.” Amber bounced up, waving her pompoms in the air.

“Fascinating custom.” Lada eyed the cheerleaders, and then looked back to Senine. “Shall we begin?”

“What are the terms?”

“Death, or when I concede.” She smiled brightly. “Of course, your comrades should be aware that attacking me after I concede is a grave offense. War-worthy, in fact.”

“Fine.” Senine swung her hammer out to point it at Lada. “Just don’t concede the first time I pound you.”

Lada lifted both of her hands up. Light flashed behind her, and giant stained glass window appeared behind her, one that displayed Lada her full regalia, wreathed by images of Star Hearts, captured in glass. The setting sunlight filtered through it, sending rainbow light all over the snow, Senine, the fountain, and the Junior Rangers.  
The window shattered, and the glass whirled around Lada. She held her eight hands out to the sides, and the glass reformed into a dozen swords, which hovered around her.

Senine tightened her grip on her hammer.

“Holy shit.” June swore. “That’s...”

“....They aren’t even metal!” Amber threw her pompoms onto the ground.

Faye raised hers, however, and shook them again. “Go Senine! Show her not to take glass to a hammer fight!”

Lada danced to the side, arms outstretched. The swords all turned to point at Senine.

Senine did not move. 

Lada gave a twirl, and six of her swords launched at Senine at once. Senine jumped back, and threw a ball of condensed gravity at the ground. As the swords passed over it, they all dipped slightly. Senine took this opportunity to smash out with both hands on the seldge, shattering all six swords with one swing.

The Stellar Sword quirked her head to the side, and then spun on her toe. The shattered blades lifted into the air and re-formed into a single massive blade, easily five times larger than Senine. The massive blade lifted into the air and slammed down at the Ranger. Senine dodged to the side and smashed her hammer into it, sending a wave of cracks through it.

Lada gave a polite curtsey, and the cracks reversed, and re-formed the massive sword once again. The blade turned, and gave a large swipe. Senine leapt into the air, and floated in place, landing only when the glass sword had long since passed by.

The fountain’s top started to slide into the basin. Streetlights were lay severed on the ground, and a tree that had caught the edge of the blade has half chopped completely through.

The huge sword lifted into the air and floated above Lada. She gave Senine a thoughtful smile. “You dance beautifully, but I’m afraid your skill is lacking.”

“Really?” Senine shifted the grip on her hammer. “Because I thought this was a warmup.”

“I’m glad you think that way.” Five more windows appeared behind Lada, and each one shattered into another twelve swords. The massive blade itself shattered, re-forming into its component weapons.

“Go Senine!” Amber yelled, now a safer distance from the fight.

“Yeah! Beat that Stellar Sword!”

Senine twirled her hammer, and placed it head-down on the ground. She put her left hand palm down, over her right hand, palm up. A black orb formed between her palms, crackling with purple energy. Senine grimaced, and her hands started to shake.

Lada began to dance again, this time with more exaggerated, feverish motions. Every single sword flew towards Senine, now, twirling in wide, sweeping motions.

Senine moved her palms very abruptly to the sides. The ball began to spin, first slowly, and then going faster and faster. She moved her palms a bit farther apart, and the spinning ball became a churning, whirling vortex. Branches and rocks rose off the ground and surged towards the Twisted Spiral and were sucked into the black, crackling vortex. The swords shot towards Senine, but when they got close enough to attack her, they were instead pulled apart, shard by shard, and were summarily absorbed by the black, yawning abyss held precariously between Senine’s hands.

Sweat beaded off of Senine’s forehead. She grimaced in obvious pain, and took a step towards Lada.

She summoned three more windows, these shattering into larger swords which immediately flew towards the Stellar Ranger. Senine’s hands twitched, and she took another step forward. The severed fountain began to break apart, the chunks of stone also being consumed by the Spiral. The swords were eaten before they even got close. Her hands twitched again, and the vortex grew half-again as large.

Lights glowed from under Lada’s dress, and fifteen windows appeared behind her. Each broken into twelve swords. Every single sword shot towards Senine.

Senine’s hands opened slightly. She closed her eyes, and every sword was absorbed by the vortex. Senine’s body shook, and her hands dropped to her side. The vortex expanded greatly, before shrinking down, and dispersing. Sweat was pouring down her face and soaking through her clothes. Every breeze should have been a cold knife through her, but she could barely feel it through the pain. She sank to her knees, sucking in pained breaths of frigid air.

Lada floated where she had been the entire fight. Sweat beaded her temples. “I enjoyed the warm-up. Did you, Miss Void?”

“Go Senine!” Amber shouted.

“Yeah! You’ve definitely got more than that!” Faye cried out.

June’s eyes were on Senine, and she could feel every beat of her heart. Cassie’s hands were balled into fists, nails digging into her palms.

Auggie was standing on the bench, hands cupped into a megaphone shape. “Go Senine! Kick her ass!”

Senine stood, and summoned her sledge again. Lada smiled.

“You’re a lovely opponent. I especially enjoy how readily you channel powers you can barely control.” The Stellar Sword summoned two windows, which exploded into twenty-four swords.

Senine held up her sledge. “Hammer of the Dying Star.” The head of her hammer turned from purple to black, and absorbed light from around it. “Grant me the power to destroy my foes.”

“It really has been a lovely fight. T’will be a shame to end it.” The swords split in half, and re-formed into thinner blades. “But I believe it’s time to end it, don’t you?”

“Do you know what the best thing is about you Hollow Heart fucks?” Senine said, resting her hammer on her shoulder. “Do you really want to know? And I mean besides the fact that you soul-stealing assholes keep acting like it’s some sort of noble cause to work for world-class fucking bastard like your boss?”

Lada’s expression did not change. The swords, however, were starting to spin in groups of six, rotating in big circles like giant drills.

“It’s because you have no actual concept of what having actual power is like. You try to coast by on what you stole from those Star Hearts. You just try to overpower everything you fight--even the ones who should be using finesse.” Senine shifted the weight of her weapon. “You were just given stupid amounts of power and you coast on it.”

“Do you think you’re even capable of fighting us if we take you seriously? I’ve been casually throwing magic at you, and you’re already half dead. If we meant to fight hard from the start, you would be ants to us.”

Senine grinned at her. “Prove it.”

Lada started to dance once again, a hard frantic dance. Blades rained down on Senine, and more windows manifested and exploded into blades, carpeting the area with thousands and thousands of swords.

Senine smashed her hammer forward. The sky and ground shook, and the shards rippled and shattered before they even got close. Senine charged through the brief opening, and planted her hammer square in Lada’s chest, sending her out of her dance and spinning through the air, right into a tree with a hard thwack.

“Do you know what actual power is?” Senine’s hand crackled, and a crusher ball smashed Lada in the chest, smashing her through the tree. Glass was embedded in Senine’s arms, chest, and legs. Her forehead was bleeding, and blood was dripping from her lips. “Actual power is being afraid to die every time. Actual power is having to worry that maybe this time, you go too far and destroy something you love. Or that maybe this fight, you don’t come back.”

Lada pushed herself onto her hands and knees and started to float up again. Three windows formed behind her.

“Actual power is knowing your limits. And accepting that they might kill you one day.” Senine was limping, and cradling her chest. “Honestly, Lada? This isn’t half dead for me. I’m always half dead. I’ve known this pain every day since my star woke up.”

Thirty-six swords flew towards her. Senine waved her bloody hand at Lada, and a surge of disrupted gravity shot through her. The swords immediately disappeared, and she doubled over and held her head.

“Dizzy? You fucking lightweight.” She advanced on the Stellar Sword, her limp pronounced but steady. 

“Concede.” Lada looked up at Senine, a bright smile on her face. “I concede. Very impressive, Stellar Ranger Void. I did not expect such sport from you. I expected Dark Star to fight me, and to detonate and destroy your tower. I expected to have killed you by now. Instead...I feel as though I have learned a great deal.” She gave Senine a deep bow. “Goodbye, Stellar Ranger Void. I look forward to our next duel.”

Lada vanished in a flash of gold and red. Senine then fell onto the grass and snow.

 

*****

 

“You failed, Lada.” Baron Stellos said from his throne as his fourth Stellar Sword hovered in front of him. “However, I commend your effort.”

“I disagree, my lord.” Lada gave him a knowing smile. “I know much about Void, now. I know what our limitations are. I know what her strength is. And I am in better shape than every other of my compatriots were after their attempt.”

“...The Long Game, of course.” Baron Stellos applauded. “Finneous, make a note to give Lada a commendation on her report.”

“Yes, my Baron.” The jester robot said from his perch besides the Baron.

“You are dismissed. Rest, and be ready to strike.” The Baron turned to his robot as Lada floated out of the throne room. “Speaking of Long Games, summon the Puppetrix.”

In moments, the Puppetrix stood before Baron Stellos. She knelt before him, ostentatious hat clung to her breast. “My Baron, what do you need of me?”

“How are your preparations?”

“Little by little.” Her eyeless face moved towards the noble. “Strings are being tied. Just a few more of this world’s months, and I will be finished.”

“Do not hurry, my servant.” Baron Stellos reclined in his throne. “If all else fails, this plan will not. Even if all of my Swords are dulled and broken, they will not be able to overcome us.”

 

****

 

Senine woke up in her own bed, at Mr. Vember’s home, with Faye curled up beside her. June’s head was resting against the edge of the bed. Cassie was asleep in a nearby chair, and Auggie and Amber looked like they had passed out mid-fighting over the other chair and had fallen both asleep and also over each other into the chair.  
Her limbs felt like lead, the slightest motion of her head made her dizzy, and every breath felt like it was being made under a heavy weight and with thick air.

Senine smiled, and rested her head against Faye’s. She put one hand on June’s head and ruffled her hair just slightly, before closing her eyes, and letting exhaustion conquer her pain.


	18. Episode 18:  Concert

“I am tired of waiting.” Stellar Sword Rex growled, pacing in front of his compatriots. “Capricorn is not yet here, but the four of us are in fighting shape, and the pathetic Rangers below cannot overcome our power.”

Feldane looked at him, from her long, spindly prosthetics. “I agree. It will be so much easier to stab them in the back when they are ineffectively trying to stab you in the front.”

Temper stood up and raised his hands to the sky. “Yes! The four of us will destroy them once and for all.”

Lada glanced over at them, and then returned to her knitting. “I will pass.”

Rex narrows his eyes. “Lada, your cowardice is showing.”

“As is your impatience, Rex.” Lada’s casual smile had not wavered. “We should wait for the word from our Baron, and also for our strategist to arrive.”

“We do not need Capricorn.” Rex snarled. “I have reconnaissance that suggests that the Junior Rangers are attending a music festival, soon. Their guards will be down.”

“Oh, yes, the concert.” Lada tapped her chin thoughtfully with one of her knitting needles. “You are aware that the artists they are seeing are also Junior Rangers, yes?  The Shining Stars are a wandering band of Ranger-bards, five strong.”

“Then we will destroy them, too.” Rex replied, standing up tall and straight. “And it will be a lesson to all who would stand in the way of Baron Stellos.”

“I will still pass.” Lada started to knit once again. “Stellar Ranger Void will not even be there. It sounds as though this would be a waste of my talents. Your own as well. The Baron will not be pleased.”

“The Baron will be pleased.” Feldane said, suddenly behind Rex. “When we bring Dark Star’s heart to him.”

“Yes.” Temper waddled over to the others. “Waiting is accomplishing nothing. Our Baron should not have to invest in the talents of that mercenary.”

Lada did not look up from her knitting. “This is not going to end well.”

“I agree.” Rex’s overly toothy grin pulled even wider. “For them.”

 

*****

 

Amber pulled away from Augusta and made a frustrated noise. “This, like, has to be a side effect of that combo move we did, or something.”

Auggie nodded, wiping her mouth. “Right. Because I’m not attracted to you.”

“Same!”

“Aw, Amber, you should find yourself attractive.”

“Ugh!” Amber rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant. You are so annoying!”

“You’re more annoying.” 

Then they started kissing again.

 

“Okay okay okay.” Auggie pulled away from Amber. “We need to stop doing this. If nothing else, we need to get prepped for the Shining Stars concert.”

“We need to stop doing this in general!” Amber pulled out her compact and then started to fix her makeup. “I’m not gay.”

“Neither am I?” Auggie made a frustrated noise. “Look, maybe we should just get out of the closet?”

Amber shot her a look. “What did I just say?”

Auggie gestured around them. “I mean the one we’ve been making out in.”

“...Oh. Right.”

 

******

 

June was sitting in Cassie’s room, with Faye and Cassie. Cassie was putting on her makeup, and Faye was on her back, with her legs dangling off the bed. June was casually rubbing Faye’s belly, which caused a rumbling, purr-like noise to erupt from her throat.

“So...who’s in this band again?” June looked over at Cassie, petting her girlfriend with one hand and thumb-scrolling down her phone with the other.

“Kara May is the lead singer. She has such a wonderful voice.”

“That’s the Asian girl with the rainbow hair?”

Cassie nodded. “Yes. On lead guitar is Destiny March, and on bass is her twin, Kismet March.”

“Those are....oh! Yeah. The hot black twins. Right.”

“On keyboard is Veracity Jones. She’s blind.”

June blinked when she saw her. “Is she albino, too?”

“I’m not certain. It could simply be her star, or Nordic ancestry. Lastly is Janice Airie, on the drums.”

“The hot black girl who isn’t a twin, got it.” June took another look at the cast. “...Cassie I might die. All of these girls are amazingly hot.”

“They’re very talented, as well.” Cassie sat down on the bed next to June. “Trust me, I think you will enjoy Destiny’s guitar play.”

June stopped rubbing Faye’s stomach to adjust her phone. Faye sat up and leaned against her girlfriend. “Oh! Yeah.” She butted her head against June’s shoulder.

“They’re really pretty. But I know someone who’s prettier”

June blushed. “Yeah, same.”

Cassie smiled at them and stood up. “Alright, it’s time to go to the concert. Where are Auggie and Amber?”

“Here!” Auggie burst into the room. “I’m here! Sorry.”

Amber came in after her. “This dork got us lost in the mansion.”

Cassie immediately looked flustered. “It’s not a mansion.”

June and Amber both gave her a level stare.

“It’s not! At any rate, we should go. Is everyone prepared?”

Faye was rubbing her cheek against June’s. Auggie and Amber were not looking at each other very conspicuously.

“Are you prepared??? Guys!”

“Oh!” June sat up straight, and Faye with her. “Yeah! I’m fine.”

“Junie and I are ready!”

Auggie walked over to Cassie and hugged her. “Relax, we’re all ready, okay?”

“Thank God.” Amber muttered.

“...Okay.” Cassie hugged Auggie back. “I just want us to be ready. We aren’t just going to a concert, we’re meeting another group of junior rangers.”

“It’ll probably be fine.” June nudged Cassie. “I say that as the apparent leader of you guys. Are there any weird regulations we should know?”

“Not that I am aware of.” Cassie released Auggie from the hug and brushed herself off. “No Earth-based ones, at the very least.”

“Okay okay okay.” Amber grabbed Cassie and June. “Come on! Stellar Rangers or not, they’re, like, my favorite band and we need a break. Come on!”

 

****

 

Solar City Stadium had a line that went all the way around it. The cloudy night sky was bright with both the Stadium’s lights and also the lights of hundreds of cars pushing at a slow crawl into it.

Julius tapped his hands against the steering wheel and sighed. His car had not even broken the gates of the Stadium’s parking lot. “Would you girls mind walking the rest of the way? I know it’s cold but this line is not moving.”

“I think that’d be fine.” Said June, cramped in the back seat with Cassie, Amber, and Faye. “Thanks, Julius!”

“No problem, call me when it’s over, okay?”

The girls piled out of Juluis’s car and made their way to the line. June fumbled in her purse and removed a VIP pass. The other four did the same, and they walked to the front of the line as a group.

“Is it kind of weird that a bunch of thirteen-year-olds have a super popular band?” June asked. A few snowflakes fell from above, and with them came an especially chilling wind. 

“Veracity’s fourteen.” Cassie replied.

“Four thirteen year olds and a fourteen year old.” June shrugged. “I don’t know, it seems weird?”

“Well,” Cassie gestured to the people in line. “Most of the audience is people around the same age, and their parents.”

“...Okay, point.”

The junior rangers made their way to the VIP kiosk and immediately got inside. The lobby was full of poster-board cutouts of the Shining Stars, as well as excited teens and pre-teens getting their pictures taken with them, and buying shirts, and talking excitedly about the concert. The girls walked past them and into the Stadium proper.

They were front row center, of course, as Octavian would not settle for anything less.

Cassie and Amber shared an excited look. Auggie smiled at Cassie occasionally, and Faye was sniffing the air and grinning widely.

June felt very out of place. The Stadium was full of brightly dressed, excited teenagers and the speakers were playing recordings of the Shining Stars--which, admittedly, she enjoyed the instruments, but it was not quite her thing.

Cassie turned and smiled June, who smiled back. It was not quite her thing, but she was happy that it made her friends happy. Also, this probably meant that she could drag them to a goth show someday and not feel guilty about it.

Other teens filed in and filled the seats. The lights went dark, and the rumbling audience dulled in anticipation.

A spotlight turned on, and the audience erupted in screams. In it was a tall, slim girl with waist-length, wavy white hair that shimmered with rainbow colors where the light hit it. Her silver eyes caught June’s even from the stage. She wore a shimmering dress that matched her hair and very complicated-looking strappy heels.

She took the microphone and gave the crowd a dazzling smile. “Hello Solar City! Kara May, here! Are you all ready for the Shining Stars?”

The crowd erupted in a roar. June politely clapped.

“I can’t hear you!”

The crowd screamed louder. Kara May smiled, and gestured next to her. “You hear that, Destiny?”

Another spotlight turned on. Under it was a girl with mid-length, curly, dark brown hair and glasses-covered bright blue eyes, dressed in black jeans and a black tank top. She had a very nice, ice-blue guitar that matched her eyes. “I heard, Kara. I think Kismet heard it, too.”

A third light sprang into life, and a girl who looked almost exactly like Destiny, save for her bright red eyes without glasses, was under it. She was wearing a short red skirt and a red top that looked like it was probably leather. She had a cherry red bass. “You better believe it, sis.”

A fourth light snapped on. “It’s hard not to,” said the girl sitting at a large and complicated keyboard. She was very thin and very pale, with platinum blonde hair and solid white eyes. She wore a glittering top and a long skirt. Before the next light could turn on, Veracity’s sightless eyes turned right to June and winked.

“You said it, V.” The final light came on. Sitting at the drums was a tall girl who looked to be in amazing shape, dressed in white pants and a red top. Her very, very curly hair was black with red streaks that almost looked like cracks running through it. Her eyes were so dark that they looked to be black.

“Well then, let’s not keep our fans waiting!” Kara shouted. The light danced around her in what June was positive was a gross misuse of Stellar Ranger powers.  
Destiny played the first chord, and June’s eyes went wide.

 

After the third encore, June was giving them a standing ovation. The Shining Stars all bowed and curtseyed and blew kisses to the audience, and then the lights went down. The cheering continued for several minutes before quieting down. People started to filter out, all talking excitedly about the concert.

June was no exception. “She’s so good at that. They’re all really good but Destiny was like, wow! She’s amazing with that guitar!”

“Yeah!” Faye hugged June around the middle. “She’s almost as good as you are.”

June blushed. “Do you really think I’m that good? Because she was...wow, I always assumed an adult or something played for her in the recordings.”

“You’re definitely on her level, Junie.” Auggie said. Cassie and Amber were trailing behind them, chatting excitedly to each other.

Before they could get too far, however, the lights on the stage flashed back into life. Destiny March ran onto the main spotlight, microphone in hand. “Hey, guys! We have a special treat for you all, just sit back down--if you want to hear some badass guitar playing, that is. It’s come to my attention that there’s a talented girl in the audience and I wanna see if she measures up, and I’m sure y’all would love to see the show!” She adjusted her glasses and called into the mic, “Would June Hespia come on up, please?”

June froze in her tracks and turned towards the stage. Destiny was looking right at her. Cassie and Amber stared at her, slack-jawed, and then immediately started pushing her towards the stage. Everyone who remained, which was most of the audience, was chanting her name. In no time, June was on the stage, and she was not entirely sure she knew how she had gotten here. The bright lights stung her eyes, and the roar of people beyond them was disorienting.

Destiny walked over to her and grabbed her by the hand. She held it up and shouted, “June, everyone!”

“H-hey! I, um. Didn’t bring my guitar.” June said, a little lamely.

“No problem, sweetie.” Destiny ran off stage, and came back with a black guitar that she handed off to June. She took her own and slung it around her neck. “Why don’t you kick us off?”

“Oh! Right. Okay.” The butterflies in June’s stomach felt like they had brought hummingbirds and bullfrogs along with them. She closed her eyes, and let her fingers dance along the strings. The amp sang, and June felt herself fall into the song.

Destiny immediately joined in, and easily fell into June’s lead. Between the two of them, they wove a deep, complex melody, winding in and out of each other’s tunes effortlessly. June’s fingers danced along the strings, each finding a familiar callous and also a familiar beat, racing through her entire being.

June lost track of time on how long she was playing, but when the song wound to a close, she and Destiny effortlessly, and in complete synch, played the finale. With the final chord, June opened her eyes again.

The audience was completely silent, and June felt her stomach drop.

And then the audience was roaring and screaming and applauding and her stomach rose so fast she felt like she was going to faint. Destiny grabbed her arm and pulled her into a bow. June was grinning widely, now and eagerly bowed to the crowd.

 

Fifteen minutes later, June was with the others, sitting down in a back room of the Stadium. It was full of pillows and couches, which the girls were all reclining on, except for June, who was practically jumping up and down.

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god!” June was vibrating. “Oh my god that was amazing I love it I love it!”

Cassie smiled. “I admit, I’m jealous, but I am also very glad for you, June.”

Auggie nudged her. “Maybe you can do this next time. Maybe some singing?”

Cassie blushed and nudged her back. “No shut up.”

Before Cassie’s singing could be inquired about any further, the door opened, and through it came the Shining Stars. Kara was first, followed by the March twins, and finally by Veracity.

“Oh my god, June!” Kara rushed up to her and grabbed her by the hands. “You were great! I didn’t even think you’d be so good, but, wow, power and talent!”

“Oh! Thanks. I just, uh, like to play.” The glare off Kara’s hair hurt her eyes. 

“You self taught?” Destiny was on the other side of June, now.

“Oh! Yeah, are you?”

“Both of us are.” Kismet was behind June. She was blocked on all sides by the three girls.

“It’s so great to meet you, sweetie, really.” Kara was very close to June. June wondered if this was what a deer felt like before a pack of wolves pulled it down and tore it to shreds. “We’ve heard so much about you from Ms. Kerberus.”

“You’ve got the Penumbra, right?” Destiny poked her on the arm. After June nodded, she said, “Damn, girl, respect on that front. That must be hard. I’m Destiny, but I guess we already kinda introduced ourselves to each other, right?”

“Yeah! We sort of had a conversation.” June was blushing.

“A pretty damn good one, too.” Destiny was smiling at her. “But, hey, let’s meet your teammates.”

June was suddenly aware that Faye was growling very slightly.

Destiny and Kara put her arms around June’s shoulders and turned towards the others. Kismet hung back with Veracity, who was smiling at the group.

“That’s Faye, she’s my girlfriend.” June gave her a little wave. Kara’s arm moved from around June’s shoulders to around her lower back.

Faye waved back, and smiled widely at them. Some of her teeth were a bit sharper than normal. 

“That’s Cassie, Auggie, and Amber. Cassie and Amber are big fans.” 

“Oh, great!” Kara said as Destiny pulled away from June. “I love fans, and it’s super great that a bunch of our fellow Rangers are fans. Really, really great. Isn’t it great, Kismet?”

“It’s amazing.” Kismet said, and June did not like her smile, or the way Kara was still touching her.

“So, what’ve you girls been up to? Fight anything really dangerous lately?” Kara released June and found a spot on a nearby couch. “We just fought a Starborn Horror. Have you seen those things before? Pretty nasty.”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Starborn Horrors are...a very impressive enemy to beat. They’re these big monsters and--”

“And they usually send full-fledged Rangers against them only.” Destiny finished.

“We took it out pretty easily, though.” Kismet sat on the other side of the couch.

“We’ve been fighting these huge jerks called the Stellar Swords.” Auggie shifted her position slightly. “They work for this old fallen hero guy called Baron Stellos, and not only do they have weird powers, they’re boosting them with stolen Star Hearts.”

“Wow!” Kara said, and June and Amber frowned at her tone. “I bet June carried you on a lot of that, though.”

“...I mean she’s a part of the team.” Faye said. “But we all work together! Amber managed to take one out that everyone else was having trouble with, and Senine beat one of them one-on-one in a duel!”

Veracity walked over to June and whispered in her ear. “Leave the room, turn right, and walk out the first exit you find. It’s important, and you would just get mad here.”

June blinked at her. Veracity showed her a tarot card that featured three people sharing cups. One of the people was indistinct, while one of the others had very dark features, save for the red cracks in her hair, and the other had very bright features, save for the red eyes.

She looked at the others and said, “Hey, I’m going to get some air, okay? I’ll be right back, you guys.”

June gave Faye and hug and kissed her on the cheek. Faye immediately stopped being tense and gave June a small, happy chirp. 

As soon as June left, Kara turned to Faye. “Who’s Senine? Is that your Senior Ranger?”

“Yeah! She’s really cool and really nice.” 

“So...” Kara glanced at Destiny and Kismet. “She beat it without your help?”

“Well, it was, like, a duel?” Amber interjected. “And no one would, like, let us cheat.”

Destiny cackled at that, but Kara shot her a Look.

“Why don’t you tell us about these Stellar Swords?” Kara asked as she leaned forward in her seat. “I want to hear ALL about them.”

 

***

 

June opened the exit door and pushed through onto a landing on top of a set of concrete stairs. A slight overhang kept the falling snow from collecting on the platform, as well as its other occupant, Janice Airie.

Janice was wearing a furry coat and was playing on her phone. The whites of her eyes were slightly reddened, which was clearly visible in contrast with the black. She jumped slightly when she saw June exit, and then visibly relaxed when she saw who it was. “Oh. Hey.”

“Hey.” June waved. “It’s Janice, right.”

“Yeah. And you’re June.”

“Yep! For about thirteen and a half years so far.”

“Did you like the concert?” Janice wiped her face with her coat sleeve.

“Yeah. Especially when Destiny pulled me on stage. Which was...kinda weird, now that the adrenaline’s run out.”

Janice sighed. “Yeah. That’s ‘cause Kara’s obsessed with you. She’s been talking about you for weeks. She’s been looking forward to coming here forever.”

“Oh my god really? Ugh.” June slumped against the rail. “Does she want to make me hers, too, or is this less stalkery?”

Janice laughed. “Naw, this is less admiration-stalker and more jealous-stalker. Ms. Kerberus told us about the Penumbra and she’s been so jealous that the ultimate power of light doesn’t belong to her.”

June gave her a flat look. “So she’s....mad? Sad? That she doesn’t have a time bomb inside her?”

“That’s our leader.” Janice sighed. “You know that movie thing, where a person’s really nice, and then they get famous, and then they’re a horrible person?”

June winced. “Kara?”

“Kara. She used to be nice, before Ms. Kerberus had this showbiz idea, back when we were starting out. Which, I say it like it was a long time but it was last year.” Janice sighed. “And Kara went from wallflower to lead girl, cause she’s got the best voice.”

“Well...what about the others? They seem...as bad as Kara?” June winced. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s accurate. Destiny isn’t awful but she likes to do what Kara does and doesn’t take it seriously when it hurts people. Kismet just does what Destiny does. Veracity...she does her own thing, but she’s also Destiny’s best friend.”

June looked at Janice. “What about you?”

She shrugged. “I play drums? Honestly, I’m not too popular around here.”

“Do you mind if I ask why?”

“Cause...I dunno. Show business kinda sucks. I like being a heroine, and I like keeping people safe, and I like playing the drums, and...” She sighed. “I like being able to support my Mom. She’s going back to school, and the money from this and the allowance from the Rangers is helping a lot.”

“But all the being in front of people and also the jerkiness of fame aren’t for you?”

“I guess not. Also, and honestly, this is most of it, but, I cannot stand traveling around all the time. I like a place to be home, you know?” Janice leaned back. “I guess it kinda sounds ungrateful. I magically get to be a star at age thirteen and I’m here talking about how much I don’t like it.”

“I mean, someone’s jealous of the fact that I’m going to explode one day, so think I kinda get it.” June smiled at Janice. “I get to be super powerful, yeah, but it’s full of all sorts of drawbacks, like exploding.”

“You know, exploding’s not high on my bucket list.” Janice grinned at her. “So, weird question since we’re just now talking and everything, but does your group have room for an extra Ranger on it?”

“We can probably make room.” June was grinning, now. “And Solar City’s really nice.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone says.” Janice shrugged. “I dunno, though. Your school have a girls’ lacrosse team?”

“Uh. Wait. Hold on.” June pulled out her phone. “I, uh. Don’t do athletic things. This would be something you would ask my girlfriend. Or brother. Or Amber. Or literally any other Ranger except maybe Senine or Auggie.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I just miss sports. Being active.” Janice sighed. “Lacrosse and soccer, mostly.”

“We....have a lacrosse team, but it’s just for high schoolers. Soccer, though, you could get in now.” June put her phone back into her coat pocket.

“...It’s tempting. Any of your team a jerk?”

“Amber, but she’s learning, and she’s in the ‘our jerk’ phase.”

Janice nodded. “Well...I probably won’t be around tomorrow, but I can talk to Ms. Kerberus and my Mom and we’ll see.”

“Okay. If you come it’ll be nice to have you.” June got to her feet. “I’d better go back to the others and make sure Faye’s not gnawing on them or someth...” June trailed off, and looked back towards the door. “...Janice. There’s trouble and we need to get back to them right now.”

Janice was already standing straight, and holding a mace made of glossy black stone, with red glowing cracks running through it. June opened the Exit door and rushed inside, Janice trailing behind her. She smashed into the door of the lounge room and knocked it open, rushing inside as Janice rushed after her.

Rex stood in the center of the room, armed with a brand new prosthetic arm, his sword pointing at Kara’s throat. Feldane held both March twins by the neck, and had Cassie held at spearpoint. Auggie had her hands up, and she was standing next to Veracity. One of Temper’s constructs was holding Faye and Amber in its large, metal-and-concrete hands.

“Dark Star.” Rex’s huge, fanged mouth grinned wider. “So good of you to come.”

 


	19. Episode Nineteen:  Concert, Part 2

“So, you sniped it while the others distracted it?” Kismet asked Amber.

“Yeah? His power made him magic-proof, not bullet proof.” 

“Very nice.” Destiny smiled at her. 

Amber’s cheeks got a little rosy, but she beamed with just a little pride.

“Too bad you couldn’t take him in a straight fight.” Kara said dismissively. “Anyway, the second one?”

“That was Temper.” Auggie reclined on her bean bag chair. “Me, Amber, and June fought him. He was this little guy who made jerks out of stuff. He started a joke, but eventually he became this big colossal problem. But we managed to beat him when we did a combo move and magnetized the jerk to give June the chance to blow him up.”

“Oh, a combo move? We’ve done those.” Kara shrugged. “It’s no big deal, right?”

“The first time, maybe.” Veracity said from a back corner of the room. Amber and Auggie jumped at the sudden voice, as it was the first time they had heard her talk.

“The first time?” Kara rolled her eyes. “That was easy, too. What was next?”

“I...don’t think we ever got her name.” Faye looked over at Cassie, who shrugged. “But it was this sort of creepy looking one who could mess with peoples’ perceptions of each other! Or even her. She was kind of tricky to deal with, but me, Junie, and Cassie really messed her up before she escaped.”

“Escaped?” Kara scoffed. “How many of them have ‘escaped’?”

“...” Auggie glanced at the others, and then looked at Kara. “All of them?”

“Really? You’re telling me you had all these really hard enemies and you just let them go?” Kara sighed. “Well, I guess you’re amateurs, so that makes sense.”

“Yeah, it like, really sucks that we don’t just murder everything.” Amber rolled her eyes.

Kara gave Amber a smile that was hiding a barely-restrained glare. “So the third one was the one your Ranger killed for you, right?”

“No.” Cassie stood. “Lada conceded at the end of the duel.”

“And let me guess.” Kara’s smile was very condescending. “You let her leave.”

“Well, do you _want_ Stellos to declare war on us?” Auggie gave her an incredulous look. “Cause that kinda sounds like you’re saying that.”

“What I’m saying is, it’s pretty clear that you guys are going to be ‘junior’ Rangers for a while.” Kara stood, and looked to Destiny. “Right, Destiny?”

“Eh....they’re not that bad. Plus, I like the red-head’s style, and June’s as good as I am.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Well, obviously June is the best part of their team, she’s their crutch.”

“Hey!” Faye stood up. “Junie’s not our crutch, we’re a team.”

“She’s obviously the strongest!” Kara smirked again. “There’s no shame in admitting it, I mean, your whole group has problems with the same people your full Ranger beat on her own.”

Kismet and Destiny shared a look but did not say anything.

Cassie stood up. “I suppose this is why they say ‘never meet your heroes’.”

Amber stood, too. “Seriously. Come on Faye, and Thunderbutt.”

“Aw, leaving already.” Kara stood as well. “Why don’t we have a little competition before you leave? I’d love to see if you can back up what you say.”

“....Okay, I’m tempted.” Auggie looked to the others. “Who else kinda wants to see how many of her own words we can stuff into her mouth?”

Amber, Cassie, and Faye all raised their hands.

“What about you girls?” Kara looked to the twins and Veracity.

“Sure!” Destiny hopped onto her feet. “I’m always up for a bit of friendly competition...and I kinda want to see if the rest of you are any good, like June is.”

Kismet stood up the next moment. “Yeah! Shining Stars vs....well, you guys don’t have a name, but maybe when your reputation builds by getting beaten by us!”

Veracity stepped up next to them. “An interesting idea that will, unfortunately, not come to pass.”

“So!” Kara grinned at them. “Before you can back out, what game do you want to do? You get to choose, since it’s what you’re going to lose.”

Before anyone could say anything more, Faye’s eyes widened, and her claws manifested. She turned towards the door and started to growl. The very next moment, a spear came from nowhere, launched at Faye’s head. She batted it out of the way with her claws and got into a fighting stance.

Feldane appeared before them. The door opened, and in stepped Temper and Rex. Rex pointed his sword at the group. “You could compete and see which of you dies last.”

A staff made of crystal appeared in Kara’s hands. Veracity had a hand of the same oversized cards that she had before. Destiny had two ice-bladed hatchets, one in each hand, and Kismet had two similar hatchets, with blades made from fire.

Kara charged forward, Brilliant Staff raised high. Rex casually slashed out, and cut right through the illusion of Kara, while Kara herself charged before he could shift from his swing and fired a blast of blinding light into his eyes.

However, Rex was not fazed by the blast and threw a backhand at Kara. The rainbow-haired girl recoiled rather than getting hit.

The walls of the room pulled themselves loose, and formed hulking, bulky armor around Temper. A blast of ice struck this armor in the middle, followed by a blast of flame. Cracks formed down the middle of the debris, and some of it caught on fire, but Temper did not respond except to charge towards the twins.

Feldane was gone, but she did not stay that way. Veracity threw a card at nothing, which struck Feldane in the upper arm and caused her to rematerialize. She swore and launched three spears Veracity’s way.

The spears pulled themselves to the ground as Amber stepped beside Veracity. She fired two shots at her before Feldane vanished again with a minor wound to the shoulder.

Cassie stepped up beside Kara, scythe summoned. Faye, meanwhile, as glaring at empty space, claws out, and slowly backing up towards Amber and Veracity. Auggie blasted Temper’s construct with a lightning bolt, before stepping beside the twins with her batons in hand.

 

****

 

Janice lifted her Volcanic Mace, and June shifted her Eclipse Blades as she stepped into a wider stance.

“Stand down, Dark Star.” Rex growled. The stars embedded in his false arm were shining brightly. “You have lost, but I give you my word as a Stellar Sword that they will live if you surrender the Penumbra.”

“Oh my God!” June stomped her foot. “I don’t understand you idiots! You say that like it’s just something I can give up! I can’t even control it when I use it! Do you think I can just, what? Reach into my chest and pull it out?”

“Give it to us.” Rex reiterated. “Or we will start killing.”

“You’re not even listening!” June crackled with black and white fire.

“Spark all you want. Your powers are useless against me, and without them, you’re a small, weak, child.”

June nodded. “I mean....yes? If I have to run anywhere, my lungs tell me they want to die and my whole body starts filling with lactic acid. You’re immune to magic, and magic weapons, and my whole thing is that the strongest magic weapon is inside me.”

“So you surrender.”

June rolled her eyes. “You know this is what Senine was talking about when she dueled Lada, right?” She quickly turned and blasted the arm that Temper was using to hold Faye off. Rex tried to stab down, but his blade met an illusion, rather than Kara’s neck. Faye ripped herself free and lunged at Rex, her Feral Claws banished, but her hands transformed into the claws of a great cat instead, and the completely natural weapons dug into Rex’s face and tore down before Faye pushed off of his torso and landed in a crouch beside June.

Rex was screaming as Veracity drew her cards and threw them at Feldane’s gripping hands, causing her to drop her spear and also the twins. Amber drew her rifle and jammed the bayonet into the arm holding her. Before it could tighten, and pulled the trigger several times. A blast of lightning hit it in the same place, and the limb was severed from the construct’s body.

Feldane vanished from sight, but as soon as she did, Kismet blasted the area she had just occupied with a blast of flame. Feldane screamed and immediately became visible, if only by her burning. Janice gestured, and the ground under Feldane’s four feet shook, cracked, and shifted, knocking her off balance. Cassie spun, and buried her scythe in Feldane’s chest before she could adjust to the situation. The Stellar Sword twitched, and went limp, falling to the ground as Cassie pulled the weapon from her chest. Her badge went black, and suddenly twisted, and then her body was consumed by both Kismet’s flames and also the flames of the stars she had stolen.

Temper’s construct pulled arms back onto its body. Amber leveled her rifle at it and shot it five times in the center of mass. Destiny stepped beside her and held both her hands forward. A blast of freezing cold covered the construct, and it stumbled as it advanced on Destiny and Amber, its motions slowing as its joints froze up.  
Amber dropped her rifle. She closed her eyes, and lifted her arms to her sides. Pipes ripped themselves from the wall, and speared into the construct from all angles, holding it in place and also scoring hits on Temper, each one destroying one of his stored constructs.

Destiny rushed forwards, both axes out. She sank them into the front of the construct and started to hack away, her blades growing as frost gathered around them. The construct then exploded outward, jettisoning all it was made of and revealing Temper inside.

Temper stumbled back, away from the others. He started to flash red and gold.

A blast of cold interrupted his teleport and knocked him against the wall. Destiny was on him in the next moment, and her axe came down into his chest. When that didn’t take, she slashed down again and again, over and over, until syrupy, clear blood fountained from chest. His badge ran black and twisted, and his body burst into multicolor flame, until there was nothing left but ash.

Amber dropped her rifle.

Rex was screaming and holding his face, swiping his sword at empty air. June called out to him, “It’s over, Rex. Surrender. No one else has to die.”  
Rex replied by rushing forward and wildly swinging his sword at where the June’s voice was coming from. Faye charged low, under the swinging blade, and caught Rex in the midsection, knocking him onto the ground. She pulled away, ready to charge in again, but the Stellar Sword glowed red and gold, and vanished without a trace.

 

****

 

“Feldane and Temper are dead.” Stellos stood before his blinded Stellar Sword, growling with rage. “They are dead by your impetuousness.”

“I warned them, my Baron.” Lada chided as she floated around Rex. “I told them what would happen if they attacked the Stellar Rangers.”

“This is as much your fault, Lada, as it is Rex’s.” Stellos slammed the butt of his scepter into the ground. “You should have warned me off this foolish course of action, not sat back and waited for your compatriots to die solely so you could be right.”

Lada sighed, and bowed her head. “So it is, Baron Stellos. I apologize.”

“They..” Rex snarled. “My lord, they cheated! They...they...”

“You are lazy.” Lada chided. “As we all have been.”

Baron Stellos sighed. “You will be taken to the infirmary, Rex. If you attempt to do this again, or anything of the sort, I will personally break the bond on your Star Heart and render you a husk. Do you understand?”

“....Yes.” Rex bowed his head. “Yes, my Baron.”

“Excellent. Capricorn will arrive soon. He will have his go. They will assume that they are winning, assuming they defeat him.” Stellos smiled behind his mask. “And they will be incorrect. We will strike, with my master plan, and we will not fail.”

 

***

 

June and the others, including the Shining Stars, sat in an all-night diner near the Stadium, just an hour after their confrontation with the Stellar Swords. They were almost alone in the diner, save for a few workers who, now that the ten teens had their food, were essentially ignoring them save to top off their drinks.

“So, I gotta know.” Auggie looked over at Veracity, who was nursing a vanilla milkshake. “How did you always know where the weird creepy one was?”

“Her name was Feldane, and I knew because I can foresee such things. I’m a seer.”

“...So, wait.” Amber said, looking over at her. “Did, like, the blindness come with that?”

“Holy shit, Amber.” June said with a groan.

“It is alright.” Veracity replied. “The answer is yes. I lost my eyesight at the same time my powers came in.”

Kara was staring at her food and not taking part in the conversation.

“Shapeshifting is pretty cool, by the way.” Destiny said, nudging Faye. Faye grinned.

“Thanks! I’ve been able to do it all my life. My actual powers didn’t grow in until I trained for them, though.”

“So, girls.” Janice began. “I think...well. You might need a new drummer. I think I’‘m going to relocate here.”

Kara got up and stormed out of the diner.

Destiny started to follow, but June stopped her. “Hold on. Her hangup’s with me, right? I’ll go talk to her.”

June got up and left, hearing only the beginning of the conversation behind her.

“You can’t go Jan! We need you.”

“You guys are great without me, and you know it. Besides, this whole travel-around-fame thing’s not me, you know I’m a homebody.”

June stepped outside. Kara was shimmering under a streetlight, sending rainbow sparkles all around her. 

“Go away.”

“Look.” June stepped a bit closer to her, tough she was mostly out of the light. “Janice told me a bit about, well, how you feel about me, and--”

“Janice? More like Judas.” Kara spat. “What, tired of getting power just...just handed to you? You want my band, too?”

“Kara. I’m not taking your band from you. Janice doesn’t like it there. She asked me about it.”

“Do you know I was a prodigy?” Kara spat out. “I’m one of the best out there. I learned faster, I worked harder, and I fought better than everyone else! And you...you aren’t even in good shape and suddenly, everywhere we go, every group of Rangers we meet, everyone is talking about the girl who has Penumbra. How powerful and dangerous she is.”

“...Wait.” June held up a hand. “People are....All over the world, people are afraid of me?”

“Yes! Don’t act like you didn’t know!”

“I...” June felt cold. “I didn’t.”

“No one is special now but you, and you don’t even want it!”

“....Stop it.” June took a step back. “Don’t you dare be mad at me for this.” Tears were streaming down her face. “Don’t you _dare_ be mad at me because do you know what my destiny is? Have you _heard_ about what the last bearer of the Penumbra _did_ to this city?!”

Kara took a step back as well.

“And you’re telling me, you’re saying that you wish you are as special as this? You want this....this curse?!” June was crying harder. This time she stepped forward, fists balled and black and white fire coursing around her. “Do you know that it’s going to kill me, too, when it happens? It’s going to kill me, Kara, and probably my friends, and I’m so sorry that that makes you feel less special.”

“...Sorry.” Kara said, at the edge of the light. “Sorry.”

Kara May vanished in the light, a faint shimmering the only indication she had ever been there.

 

******

 

The next morning came, and the Shining Stars were packing up to leave. Kara was making herself scarce, locked up in the tour bus rather than help with the packing efforts. Destiny, Janice, and Kismet performed the bulk of the ‘heavy’ lifting--they picked up the most pillows while roadies dealt with the actual hard work.

Veracity wandered the perimeter of Solar City Stadium, shuffling through her deck of oversized cards. She was aware of someone stepping in front of her, just as she was aware of the card she had just drawn.

A girl, wearing a hood, sitting on a throne, holding up a staff with small, round holes running down it. Glowing blue eyes shone from out of the inside of the hood. Two people were chained to the throne below, one whose skin and hair were pure white, but her clothing black, and the other dressed in fiery red armor and holding a broken, burning sword. The card was numbered XV.

The girl in front of her was not a girl. Veracity knew that she was not anything near human, and that the card XIII would have been just as valid.

“Hello.” Lanessa, in Lynneth’s form, said to Veracity. “I would go through the whole deception business, but, honestly, we both know why I’m here, don’t we?”

Veracity tensed, and nodded.

“Then let’s make this easy for both of us, hm? Well, easy for you, as you know what fighting back will get you.” Lanessa put her hand on Veracity’s face. White energy pulled itself from Veracity, and seeped into Lanessa like a sponge.

“I won’t remember any of this.” Veracity said softly, hands shaking.

“It’s so good to have an amicable meal.”

“...Until it is too late.” 

Lanessa gave a fond sigh. “Seers. It will be wonderful to see what it is you mean by that--well, it would, if I didn’t have specific plans for this little meal.”

She pulled her hand away, and locked eyes with Veracity. “You won’t remember any of this. When I snap my fingers, you will wait five minutes, and then come to. If anyone bothers you before then, you will regain awareness, as well.” Lanessa kissed Veracity on the forehead. “Goodbye, seer. Thanks to you, even if my plan fails, I will have my revenge."


	20. Episode Twenty:  A Matter of Strategy

“I am so psyched.” Auggie was bouncing on her heels going through the halls of school, along with the other Junior Rangers. “Which of you can I dupe into standing in the line in the cold with me?”

“Not me.” Amber was the first to say. “There is no way I am going to stand in line with a bunch of nerds for your nerd game.”

“Excuse you.” Auggie bumped Amber with her hip. “Tales of Battlecraft is, like, the most popular strategy game ever made. Lots of non-nerds play it, and Tales of Battlecraft III: Dawn of the Lich is going to be the game of the year!”

“Is that not,” Cassie began, “a tad bit early, considering that the year began only a few weeks ago?”

“Oh, no, from what I’ve seen? It might be the game of the decade.”

“Do you play a lot of videogames, Auggie?” June asked as she squeezed Faye’s hand.

“Some! Mostly strategy.” She stopped by her locker, and the rest gravitated towards theirs. “Seriously, though, we’re still on ‘no-one-goes-alone-because-Stellos-is-a-dick’ policy, I need someone else to be there with me in line for it.”

“I will go.” Cassie glanced over at her from across the hall. “Best friend tax and such. Also, Octy has not yet arrived so there is only one Levey I need to spend my time with.”

“Me, too.” June said. “Though that might not be the best idea, considering that the Stellar Swords only seem to attack when I’m around.”

“Sure! Anyone else?”

“Oh, no.” Faye frowned. “Sorry, I was going to get some sleep for cheerleader stuff tomorrow.”

“That’s okay! It’s going to be the original posse, tonight!” Auggie beamed. “I would say that nothing can go wrong, but we’ve been weeks without a Stellar Sword attack, so, almost anything can go wrong, actually.”

 

*****

 

That night, Auggie, June, and Cassie approached the local mall, which was open only by special permission due to the midnight release party. The January chill cut through even their winter coats.

“Augusta.” Cassie began as they crossed the final road and reached the mall proper. “There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you about.”

“What’s that?” Auggie opened the door and stepped inside. She immediately started to unwrap the scarf from around her neck.

“Are you seeing Amber?”

Auggie stopped mid unwrap.

“Wait.” June asked, stepping up beside them, inside the mall. “What?”

“No!” Auggie immediately shouted. “No, of course not, don’t be ridiculous! Amber annoys the heck out of me.”

“You have been coming out of dark and enclosed spaces with her on a regular basis. And also, you have occasionally been playing footsie with her under the table when you think we won’t notice.”

“...Well. There are a lot of logical explanations about that that I won’t get into because look! We’re here.”

They were indeed at the gaming store, which was easy to spot as it had a long line in front of it already, an hour before the midnight release. Auggie stepped in line in the back and was completely avoiding Cassie’s judging gaze.

“Auggie.”

“There’s nothing to talk about! Me and Amber are absolutely not a thing. We never have been. We never will be. The end.”

“You’re...really denying this in a super suspicious way, Auggie.” June said, stepping into line beside her.

“No, I’m not.”

Cassie sighed. “Yes, sweetie, you are.”

“...Look.” Auggie turned to her friends. “The answer is ‘no, but’. But there’s another but, and that but is, ‘but I don’t wanna talk about it’.”

“That is all you needed to say.” Cassie patted her on the back. “I will not pry. I just did not want you to keep me out of the loop. Not completely.”

“Yeah.” Auggie sighed. “Yeah, I get it.”

“...You’re lucky you’re my friend.” June poked Auggie on the arm. “Because I can do nothing but think up embarrassment payback for you.”

“Gee, thanks, Junie.” Auggie stuck her tongue out at her.

“No problem!”

 

They waited in line for the better part of an hour, before Auggie left the store with her game in hand. The three friends moved back through the mostly empty mall, and towards the exit.

“So, what’s the plot of this game, anyway?” June asked.

“Okay, so, there’s this big war against demon guys way way in the past, and--”

June held up her hand, suddenly tense. She pointed towards the exit.

Standing before them was a man dressed in an impeccable Stellar Sword uniform. He was covered in a thin layer of brown fur, and had almost triangular, blue eyes. He began to approach the Junior Rangers with a limp. His four sets of short horns glinting off the fluorescent lights above.

“I am Capricorn, strategist of the Stellar Swords.” He gave a deep, flourishing bow. “And do not worry, I have not come to fight. I have a much simpler proposition. I want to play a game.”

 

*****

“Okay, Jordy.” Senine sat on her bed, legs crossed. Jordy sat across from her, with Hal’s head resting in his lap. Bianca Manfred, a junior with a truly impressive mohawk, and Cybil Chen, a girl with rainbow hair in a non-magical way, were reclining in two chairs apiece beside the bed. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.” He said immediately.

This caused Senine to roll her eyes. “I already know everything about you. That’s the boring option.”

“Fine.” He ran his hair through his boyfriend’s hair. “Dare.”

“I dare you...to do the dance you used to do to that dumb summer vacation song, for everybody.”

“Seniiiine!”

“I was going to dare Bianca to make out. I wasted my dare on this. Do the dance.”

Hal grinned up at Jordy. “Yeah, babe, do the dance.”

Jordy frowned at him and poked him in the forehead. “Traitor.”

Bianca nearly fell off of her makeshift recliner. “I...what now?”

“Oh, hey Bianca, you’re awake! Maybe if you were on the bed you’d be less sleepy.” Senine patted the space next to her, and then looked at Jordy. “Do the dance, or be a dare-breaker.”

Jordy was glaring as he moved his boyfriend’s head and stood up. Senine gleefully removed her phone from the nightstand and cued up an extremely peppy bubblegum pop song from about seven years ago.

“Okay, art-slave.” Senine clapped twice, which seemed to wake up Cybil, too. Senine gestured for her to join on the bed, too--Bianca was already in the process of slowly getting up. “Dance.”

 

******

 

“My star grants me the power to enforce wagers.” Capricorn smiled a wide smile. “The boost my Lord has given me enables much more...power behind that gift. Therefore, I challenge you to a game--the best two out of three, my choice as to which we play. If I win, the Penumbra will come with me. If I lose...my life is forfeit.”

“I imagine the Penumbra getting removed will be fatal for me?” June glanced for escape routes.

“Most likely, yes--but I am not challenging you directly for the weapon--what sport would there be in that?” He pointed at Augusta. “I challenge Stellar Ranger Volt. You both, of course, must accept.”

“...And if we refuse?” Auggie glanced at June.

“Then I return to my Baron, and inform him that you have refused my duel, and he will use my considerable strategic acumen to destroy you and this planet.”

Cassie rubbed her temples. “I am beginning to despise this dueling law.”

June and Auggie looked at each other, and then at the Stellar Sword.

“We accept.” June took Auggie’s hand. She nodded.

“Yeah. We accept.”

 

“This game is one of my homeland. It is what we will be playing the three rounds.” Capricorn grinned slyly. “Well, one hopes it will be three, at any rate. It is similar to your game of ‘chess’.”

A board materialized in front of them. It was covered in a red-and-gold checkerboard pattern, though, unlike a checkerboard, it was ring-shaped, with a half red, half gold circle in the center.

“The rules are simple--” Capricorn began.

“And I trust,” Came Cassie’s interruption, “you will explain all of the rules to Augusta? Witholding any such vital information could be grounds for cheating.”

Capricorn’s mouth twitched. “Of course not, and any questions she may have over the course of the games are welcome to be asked. Setup is thus.” He waved his hand, and five groups of pieces appeared on the board. One group of ten pieces of varying sizes was in each cardinal direction on the board. Two groups were red, and two were gold, with groups of the same color being next to each other, with one gold group next to the red half of the central circle, and one red group by the gold half. The final group was in the center. One gold piece was on the red half, and one red piece on the gold half.

“Choose your color, and I will explain the rest.”

“Red.”

“These,” Capricorn pointed to the large pieces in the center. The gold piece now resembled a man with a mustached mask and strange, bulging shoulders. Auggie’s red piece now bore a striking resemblance to Amber. “Are your ‘kings’. Our goal is to capture each other’s king. We may only do that if we first capture both of the King’s Guards.” Capricorn gestured to large pieces in the center of each of the border groups. As the girls watched, the pieces changed. Capricorns resembled Rex, while Auggie’s looked like June. “They are like chess’ queens, they may travel in any direction along the perimeter, and may also go from one edge to its corresponding opposite edge. Unless both are captured, neither side may capture the other. A King can only be taken from the space adjacent to the space it’s in.”

“Oh. Okay, that sounds simple enough--”

“The Knight” Two per group, Cassie for Auggie and Lada for Capricorn, “May only travel counter-clockwise. The Assassin,” Two per group, Feldane for Capricorn and Faye for Auggie, “May only move clockwise, unless it has captured a piece on the last move, in which case it may move in either direction for the next move only. Cavalry” Temper for Capricorn and Auggie herself for Auggie “May only move towards and away the center, and can move to corresponding edges, but they cannot enter the King’s Spaces. Finally, the Footmen,” He gestured to the many pawn like pieces, Rex for him and Stellar Ranger symbols for Auggie. “May only move two spaces at a time, in any direction, and may cross the gaps to corresponding edges.”

“Okay. How many spaces is that at a time?”

“Ten, save for the Guards, which may move fifteen. None have to move straight, of course. They may move diagonally, as long as it is in the proper direction. Claiming a piece with a piece ends its move, of course.”

Auggie scanned the board. “Hmm. Can the kings move, at all?”

“If their guards are dead, they may move up to three spaces.”

“Okay!” Auggie looked over the pieces one more time. “Who goes first?”

“Gold, traditionally.”

Cassie was staring at the pieces. “Augusta, why, if you are not seeing Amber, is she your King?”

“...Shut up.”

“And not your very best friend.”

“I am literally playing for Junie’s soul, here!”

“That you are.” Capricorn put his hand on a Footman. “Victory in...eleven moves.”

“...You can’t know that.” Said Auggie, looking extremely self-conscious.

 

Around ten moves later, and one of Capricorn’s guards was dead, while both of Auggie’s were gone, along with half of her pieces. Her king was on the run, three spaces from its starting position. Capricorn had an assassin on either side of the king, one of which had freshly killed.

Auggie put her hand down, thought for a moment, and started to move her king towards the inside edge of the ring.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Capricorn gently took Auggie’s hand and made her put the piece back down. “That’s an illegal move.”

“...Wait, why? You said the king could move three?”

“Yes.” The Stellar Sword gave her a crafty grin. “Three total, not three per turn.”

“Oh, son of a--” Auggie scanned the board. “...I can only take one of your assassins.”

“Correct.”

Auggie looked up at Capricorn, and claimed an assassin with her knight. The very next move, Auggie’s king was claimed by the surviving assassin.

She glared up at him. “Any other rules you forgot to tell me?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Good.”

He waved his hand, and the board re-assembled itself. “Game two, then? Unless you would like to concede. Mate in fifteen, this time.”

Auggie narrowed her eyes. “Actually, mate in twenty.”“

Capricorn laughed. “I’m glad to see you’re giving yourself enough credit, this time. Either way, it will be my victory.”

 

****

“Senine.” Jordy nudged Senine, who was asleep with her head on Bianca’s chest and her legs resting across Cybil. Hal was asleep on the floor, in an extra-large sleeping bag, facing away from where he had recently been curled around Jordy.

Senine batted his hand away and slowly woke up. “...You had better be waking me for something really damn important because sleeping on a pile of pretty ladies is on my bucket list.”

“Please? I want to talk. Just a second.”

Senine highed, loudly and dramatically, and crawled off of Bianca and Cybil. She followed Jordy out into the hallway, and immediately crossed her arms.  
Jordy shut the door and looked at Senine. “Do you...do you think I was right? Before? About Hal.”

“Well....he watched you dance pretty closely. Which was impressive, because I, um, missed most of it.” Senine’s grin was completely shameless.

“Senine.”

“Sorry. Just excited. Anyway...I can’t tell. He seems like he’s really into you.” Senine shrugged. “Do you want me to just...ask him?”

Jordy gave it an honest thought, but then shook his head. “No. No. I just. Wanted your opinion, for now.”

“Look.” Senine touched Jordy on the shoulder. “This year’s been hard for you, but Hal’s always been there. And if he is cheating on you, he’s an asshole, and to be worth hurting on you, she has to be, without hyperbole, a literal goddess.”

Jordy gave Senine a weak smile. “Thanks. Hilde.”

“Okay first of all how dare you.”

 

****

  
Fourteen moves later, Capricorn was not smiling.

Both of his guards had been captured, while neither of Auggie’s had been. Auggie had lost a lot of footmen and some cavalry, but neither of her assassins or knights.

“Sorry, wasn’t this move going to be the one where you beat me?”

“It’s poor form to taunt during a game.”

Auggie shrugged. “It’s also poor form to threaten someone with war if they won’t play a ridiculously high stakes game that they’ve never played for, but eh.”

Capricorn glared at her, and claimed one of her knights.

 

“And there’s the king!” Auggie said, knocking the Stellos-shaped piece over. “And one for Auggie.”

“How are you so good!?” Capricorn stared, slack-jawed at the board.

“It just makes sense to me.” She shrugged. “The pieces and the patterns just kinda unfold. I used to play my brother all the time, and he beat me every time, until I figured out how to pull the permutations out and work them in my head.”

“....” Capricorn waved his hand, and the board was set up again. “I will succeed in this round. Mate in...thirty-three..”

Auggie glanced at the board, and then at Capricorn. “I’m not sure, yet. Let’s see how you play.”

 

Five moves in, Auggie gave the board a quick look. “You’re being aggressive. It’s either a feint, or you’re desperate. I’m not sure which, yet, but I think you’re bluffing. You’ve barely moved your cavalry. You’re waiting for me to make an opening.” Auggie grinned. “This game’s kinda fun, actually! Mate in about twenty, I think.”

Capricorn made a frustrated noise, and moved a knight.

 

Twenty-ish more moves in, Auggie took stock of the board once again. “You’re way more defensive, now. Maybe ten more moves if you keep this up.”

“You don’t know that.” Capricorn snarled. One of Auggie’s guards was gone, and both of Capricorn’s were up. “From where I’m sitting, you’re behind.”

Auggie snorted. “Maybe from where you’re sitting.”

Three moves later, and both of Capricorn’s guards had been captured.

“But...” Capricorn looked at the board, and his eyes lit up. “You feinted. With the assassins. You took pieces and did not follow through.”

“Nope. You were ready for me to, though.”

“And the cavalry. I...”

“You thought I’d forgotten that they couldn’t capture the king, so you did nothing.”

Capricorn stared at the board. “I cannot stop you.”

“Nope.”

He moved a knight, and took one of Auggie’s assassins.

Auggie claimed his king.

The board vanished.

“I underestimated your prowess, Stellar Ranger Volt.” Capricorn leaned back in his seat. “You are a genius--unparalleled genius.”

“Not really. I just like games.”

“Regardless,” Capricorn opened his arms wide. “My life is yours.”

Auggie looked up at the others, and then back at him. “Punch your own face.”

Without hesitation, Capricorn punched his own face, which earned a surprised yell and almost caused him to fall out of his chair. “What in the--”

“I just wanted to make sure it worked! Alright. Just killing you is...not really my style. So, here it is. You release all of the hearts you have on you. You resign from the Baron, reclaiming your heart if you can, and you go to the Stellar Rangers and tell them everything that you’ve done for him, and everything that you’re doing here. After that...live a peaceful life. One where you don’t use your powers to hurt people.”

Capricorn stared at her, and then started to laugh. As he did, he stripped off his jacket and started removing jewelry from his body. He set it down in front of him, and as he did, the gems inside, glowing brightly with stolen stars, one by one winked out.

He stood, and looked down at her. “The last time I lost a match, little one, my life was taken. I was told I would serve the Baron until my death. I enjoyed playing against you, Stellar Ranger Volt. Perhaps, one day, we will be able to have a rematch.”

Capricorn disappeared, and for the first time during the game, Auggie felt like she could finally breathe.

“Holy shit, Auggie.” June swore, letting out a shaky breath and sitting at the table. “That was the most tense space chess match I’ve ever seen.”

“Though I still am not clear on why Amber was your king and not your best friend.”

“Oh my god.”

 

******

 

Capricorn stood before Baron Stellos. “So as you see, Baron, I must take my leave, with my star heart within me.”

Baron Stellos nodded. “Yes, I see and I understand. I will miss our games, Capricorn.”

“As will I.” Capricorn turned to leave, and saw that the world before him was full of stained glass.

“No, Capricorn.” Baron Stellos sighed. ‘Regrettably, you will not. Lada, please, do your grim duty.”

The stained glass windows shattered.

Six swords pierced Capricorn’s chest.

And of the five brightest lights on the Baron’s throne, three had now been extinguished.

 


	21. Episode Twenty-One:  The Baron's Gambit

Amber and Auggie sat on a bench outside of school. It was unseasonably warm for late January, and the sun was peaking through grey winter storm clouds. All of the forecasts promised the same, thick, wet snow that was currently melting on the ground, leaving muddy grass poking out in patches.

“So, uh...” Auggie glanced over at Amber. “How’s stuff with your parents?”

“My mom looked me in the eye, today. So, you know. Progress. How’s, um, stuff settling in for your brother?“”

“I miss my bathroom.” Auggie grumbled. “He spends forever in there, every day, usually multiple times a day! But, I guess it’s okay that he’s around. And Cassie’s ecstatic.”

“That’s cool. I guess.”

The two sat in silence for a few moments, before Auggie broke it. “So, did you want to do anything for Valentine’s?”

Amber got up and started to walk away.

“Wait!” Auggie sat up and grabbed Amber’s arm. “Let’s just talk, okay?”

“I don’t want to do anything for Valentine’s.”

“Okay, but--”

“Because we’re not dating.”

“...Yeah. Right.” Auggie let her go. “See you later?”

“Yeah, whatever. Later.” Amber pulled away and then bolted out of the schoolyard.

Auggie slumped back down onto the bench. “Wow.”

She did not have time to get angsty, because June, Faye, Cassie, Senine, and Octavtian were approaching her. She gave them a little wave and put her hands in the pockets of her poofy blue coat as she stood again.

“Sister!” Octy rushed over to her and gave her a huge hug. “It’s been too long.”

“Since breakfast?”

Octy waved her off. “Small details.”

“Where’s Amber?” Faye glanced around. 

“She had to go.” Auggie shrugged. “Family stuff I guess. Or maybe she just wanted to be whatever she’s deciding ‘cool’ means today.”

“She’s gonna miss ice cream.” Faye pouted, and then pulled out her phone. “I’ll get her to come with!”

“Someone’s about to get a class five pouting.” Senine said with a smirk.

“That’s when she sends a picture of it, right?” June asked, her arm looped around Faye’s.

“No, that’s a class three.” Senine ruffled Faye’s hair. “A class five is the same effect with only words. You really need to read the Vember Family Handbook entry on Faye.”

“What’s the entry on you, like?”

Octavian interjected, now, “I’m fairly certain it’s a twenty-volume set.”

Senine nodded. “Leather bound, and every time you open it it plays a sweet guitar riff.”

Cassie rolled her eyes and clung to Octavian’s arm. “Like one of those cheap greeting cards?”

“Exactly like one of those.”

Auggie glanced past the others, and her heart skipped a beat. Amber was running towards them.

“Looks like the class five worked just fine!” Senine said as she followed Auggie’s gaze.

“But...” Faye looked down at her phone. She had not yet sent the message.

Amber was a bit closer, and an alarmed look was clearly visible on her face. She lifted her arm and pointed behind them, over and past the school.

They turned and saw, descending from the clouds, far beyond the school but still massive enough to be completely recognizable, was a castle, enclosed in a dome, with countless thrusters and rockets along the bottom.

 

In moments, Mr. Vember had teleported all of the girls to the Tower. Once everyone was there, Senine approached her caretaker. “What’s the situation?”

“Baron Stellos is landing his castle on a large swath of farmland outside of town.” Vember gestured to his wall, which very suddenly had a projection of an image of exactly what Vember was saying. “He is taking care to avoid landing on any farmland. Civilian news is...in something of a panic on the events. The Stellar Rangers have not received any news as to what his purpose is in doing this, and he has, as far as I know, ignored any notices from them about how this could be seen as an act of war.”

“How long until he lands?” June walked over to the projection and poked it.

“Half an hour. We should be prepared to mobilize when this occurs.”

 

Faye was on the roof of the tower, sitting on the edge and staring out, towards the descending castle. June came up behind her and put her hand on Faye’s shoulder.

“Hey.”

Faye rested her head on June’s hand. “Hi.”

“You doing okay? I’d sit next to you, but, I don’t have wings.” She gave Faye a weak smile. “Are you okay?”

“...do you think my parents will be okay?”

June fought the urge to say that she hoped they would not be. “I hope everyone’s going to be fine. But...I don’t think he’d just, attack the city, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Yeah.” Faye frowned. “I think...are we going to have to kill a lot of aliens?”

June hugged her, now, and rested her chin on her shoulder. “I hope not.”

“Yeah.” Faye rested against June. “Me, too.”

 

Octavian stood behind Cassie as she made her way into the dungeon. She moved to the only cell she cared about and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Came Gemini’s voice. 

“I just wanted...” She sighed. “I am going into battle, soon, against Stellos at his fortress.”

There was silence, before her twin replied back, “I know.”

“And before I leave, I wanted to tell you that you’re my sister, and I love you dearly.”

“I love the affection you only get from someone going to war. Is that it?”

Cassie frowned. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

“Hello, Octavian! Have you come to tell me that you love me dearly, as well? That might cause something of a scandal.”

Octy sighed. “Sadly not, though I do wish you well.”

Cassie took Octy’s arm and started to pull him out of the dungeon. She was interrupted by an extremely grudging “Wait.”

She turned back to the cell. “Yes?”

“Try not to die? Or get anyone else killed.”

“Actually.” Mr. Vember was suddenly in the room. “Gemini, I have a proposition, if you would like to hear it.”

Cassie shot Vember an odd look, which he did not acknowledge. “We may need...more, than we have, now. This is a chance for you to earn some...well, good behavior, as it were. You behaved well....for you, at any rate. Your behavior, here, could allow you additional time out of your cell.”

Cassie was not sure whether she should be grateful for this or question Mr. Vember’s sanity.

“Yep!” Senine sauntered into the room, now. “I’ve even agreed to it. Which probably tells you how scared and desperate we are. This guy wants to take the Penumbra, and, even without your scary June obsession, you know that’s bad news.”

“...and I have to come back, after?”

“Yes. But...perhaps we could allow you more time out, as I said. Perhaps once a month rather than--”

“Deal.’

 

Amber and Auggie stood just apart from each other, down in the library.

“Be careful. Okay?” Amber turned away from her. “Don’t, like, charge in like an idiot or anything. I’d miss mocking you.”

Auggie tentatively put a hand on Amber’s arm. Amber did not pull away. “Don’t be so focused on your ironsights that you get ambushed. I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive without my least favorite cheerleader.”

“...You wanna, like...be my secret Valentine?”

“...Yeah.”

“But not because we’re dating.” Amber rested against Auggie. “Because we’re not and I’m not gay.”

“Right.” Auggie put her head against Amber’s. “Not even a little bit.”

 

Leah sat on the couch next to Julius in his apartment. She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. “I don’t like not being there.”

“You don’t like it.” Julius shared his girlfriend’s sigh. “I hate it. My little sister’s going...going.”

Leah sat up and kissed Julius. “I know.”

“Is she...do you think she’s going to be okay?”

Leah nodded. “My Dad’s with them. If they’re going to be in over their head, he’ll save them. They’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.” Julius said, though his voice had even less certainty than the word usually indicated. “She’ll be fine.:

 

Everyone--including Gemini and Mr. Vember--was once again in the Tower’s main room. Everyone save Cassie was giving Gemini something of a berth. They all watched on the projector screen as the castle settled down onto the mostly empty farmland below.

“What do we do now?” June asked, looking to Vember and Senine.

“We have two options. We visit first, or we wait for--” Vember’s pocket chirped with a short tone. He removed it and glanced at the screen. “--this. You, appears, and the rest of the rangers--but not me, of course--have been invited to your certain doom by Baron Stellos.”

Senine looked over her foster father’s shoulder. “Holy fuck, they actually said certain doom.”

“Given the circumstances,” Mr. Vember pocketed his phone. “I’ll not chastise you for the language.”

“...Am I crazy, or is this, like, the most obvious trap ever?” Auggie glanced at the others. “Everyone sees it, right?”

“Unfortunately, Miss Levey, you have little choice but to fall into it.” Mr. Vember walked over to his desk and sat at it. “My superiors are already screaming at me to resolve this by any means without starting a war or bring the big artillery down.”

Amber glanced at June and mouthed, ‘We have artillery?’ June shrugged.

“...So we go.” Senine glanced to the others. “As soon as we can. And Vember? Could you please see if you can get authorization to use that artillery while we’re gone?”

“I will make no promises, but I will see what I can do. However, unless...” Mr. Vember took a deep breath. “Unless the absolute worst occurs, I will not endanger you.”

“Can you teleport us?”

He stood, and walked to the center of the girls. Senine wrapped him in a big hug, which he returned, tears coming to his eyes. She pulled away, wiped her face, and looked to the others. “Everyone ready?”

Silence greeted her, until Faye looked up at her and put on the biggest smile she could. “Yeah! We’re ready!” She looked at everyone else and hopped up. “Aren’t we, guys!? There’s nothing we can’t do!”

“Oh, I think I like you, Faye.” Octavian grinned at her, and then called out, “Come on, girls! I know I’m new to this particular iteration of the team, but between my charisma and Senine’s unique charm, there’s nothing the two of us can’t handle, and the rest of you, well, that’ll make it even more amazing.”

“They’re right.” June smiled at her friends. “This is going to be over, soon. Stellos is going to pay for what he’s done to us, and what he’s done to so many more. We can do this--we will do this.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Gemini said, but she was smiling, too. “You guys have me, too, don’t forget. I could probably do this on my own, but, I guess you can come along, too.”

“Wow, maybe when we beat this guy,” Auggie smirked at her. “I can beat you at chess, again.”

“I hate you so much.”

There was a bright flash of light, and Vember was alone in the office.

 

****

 

Baron Stellos’s castle was even larger in person.

Massive gates stood before the Stellar Rangers, attached to equally massive walls. Beyond them were towers and parapets and spires, put together in what June guessed probably made sense at the time, but appeared to her as mostly random. The dome was gone, retracted into the broad, flat platform that had sunk into the ground beneath it.

As she watched, the red gates slowly retracted into the ground, revealing an ornate, carpeted walkway beyond. Senine took June’s hand, and June took Faye’s, and the Stellar Rangers, junior and full, made their way across the empty, snowy and muddy fields.

When they reached the gates, which were, in total, at least fifty meters in width, Lada was waiting for them, hovering serenely just past the threshold. From there, June could see that the walkway was flanked on both sides by hundreds of soldiers, all of whom in red and gold with Hollow Heart badges on prominent display. They stood with weapons at their sides and at perfect attention, not even giving the Stellar Rangers a second glance.

“Hello, Stellar Ranger Dark Star, and guests.” She bowed deeply and started to hover backwards down the walkway, towards towering palace gates, with a red and gold balcony overlooking it. “If you would come this way, please.”

The Rangers walked in a loose group, behind the Stellar Sword before them. Lada’s pleasant smile never dipped for a moment as they passed lines of soldier after soldier, mixed with towering buildings, the purpose of which June could only guess. They moved in silence for what felt like hours, but was probably closer to half of one, until they reached the edifice with the overlooking balcony.

Baron Stellos was a very large man, both very tall and very broad, and either overweight or wearing bulky armor underneath his red and gold finery. He wore a face mask with a prominent mustache over it, and upon his crown were many brightly colored, sparkling Star Hearts. Rex stood beside him, with glittering stars where once were his eyes.

“Stellar Ranger Dark Star.” Baron Stellos’s deep voice boomed from the balcony. “I apologize that it has taken so long to arrange this meeting. We, perhaps, should have started with this, but I, as my servants, have underestimated you. I am not taking that chance again. I will ask you plainly--surrender your star and weapon to me, and we will leave this planet in peace, and your friends with it.”

“You can’t hold it. You can’t handle it!” June yelled. “Please, just leave this planet, before there’s any more unnecessary death.”

The Puppetrix was now standing beside Stellos. June had never seen her in this form, but she immediately knew who it was, as it was the only person she could have been. Lada hovered up next to her Baron, tiny next to his bulk.

“You refuse my offer, then?”

“For the thousandth time, yes.”

Baron Stellos turned to the Puppetrix. “Do as you must.”

The Puppetrix lifted her arms, as though they were holding marionette crosses. As June watched, Faye went limp, though she did not fall--she hung in place. The same happened with Cassie, Auggie, Amber, and Senine, though the strings holding Senine up were both visible and also glowing as if from heat.

Octavian suddenly had a sleek, blue bow with a hazy white string, as though it were made of a cloud. Gemini was holding her scythe at the ready.

“Oh, there will be no need for that, friends.” Stellos gestured to the Puppetrix. Cassie summoned her scythe, and then held it to Auggie’s neck. Auggie summoned her batons, which immediately began to crackle. She held them only a few inches from Faye’s neck. Faye placed her claws at Amber’s throat. Amber’s rifle was up and pointed at Cassie’s head. “Please, unsummon your weapons. As your leader said, no unnecessary bloodshed, and my old tactics were obviously not working in that regard. They have evolved, and, thus, as you can see, they have evolved past you.”

Octavian dropped his bow. Gemini lowered but did not unsummon or release her grip on her scythe.

June just stared at her friends, locked in mutually-assured destruction, with Senine and her burning strings in the middle.

There was a beat thrumming in the back of her head, along with one word, one very familiar to you and also recently repeated by her enemy.

“I had been, of course, doing this all wrong. Your group are...the brightest of their generation. Powerful, versatile, and intelligent.” Baron Stellos’s booming voice could not drown out the thrumming in June’s head. It wasn’t just a sound, It filled her whole being. It had one, single impulse. To give in. “Oh, of course, I could have butted my head against you, over and over, until nothing remained, but the efforts by the Puppetrix gave me an idea. A grander scale.”

A robot dressed like a jester popper up next to Stellos. Gemini’s eyes widened when she saw it.

“Release them.” June was sparking, black and white. The beat pounded harder inside of her. Harder to resist. 

“June.” Gemini whispered. “This isn’t right. That robot, I think. Something worse is going on here than we know.”

“I will, once you release my crown jewel to me.”

June stared up at Stellos, and then at her Octavian and Gemini. “How long do I have?”

“I will give you one half of your hours. After that, I am afraid I will be forced to prove how serious I am about this.”

June mouthed ‘Buy me time’ to the others, and then closed her eyes. “I. I think there’s something I can try.”

June’s markings burned under her skin. She caught fire, first brilliant white and then a black that destroyed more light the harder it raged, and then white once again.

“The Black Sun rages within me.” They were her words, words she had used a dozen times. The meaning had changed, and the beat in the back of her head made her understand better what she had never understood before.

“I stand in its judgment.”

Evolution. June had just assumed it was a translation error, something that sounded better in another language than it did English. She had not thought of what else it could mean, even after it had marked her. Not a side effect.

“Brilliant.”

It had always been marking her, June knew now. The beat told her all of this, now that she was listening once again, now that she felt it within her.

“Darkness.”

The Penumbra was making her into a better vessel. Something that was more used to its power. How else could she have used the Dark Star Riot without detonating?  
It was never meant to be used on something else. Only the holder of the Penumbra, only a shaped vessel, could have survived it.

“Evolution.”

With no other option available to her, June decided that it was finally time to change.

 


	22. Episode Twenty-Two:  The Penumbra

Where June had been was now a ball of swirling black and white flame, roughly as big around as she was tall.

Gemini was watching it with rapt attention. Octavian was exceptionally confused, but used his considerable acting prowess to play it cool, despite the fact that his mind-controlled sister and his mind-controlled girlfriend were locked in a death trance only a few feet away.

“What...what is the meaning of this!?” Baron Stellos snarled.

“My Baron.” Finneous stepped up beside him. “We should kill them now, and use all of our power to destroy the chrysalis.”

“I agree, my Baron.” The Puppetrix replied. “They must be erased.”

“Oh, really?” Gemini called up at them. “This is the only way she can give up the Penumbra. Obviously. Maybe your time with Kilaua or whoever dulled your appreciation for what it takes for most people to get rid of their stars?”

“How the hell did you know about his dumb girlfriend?” Called Senine from the center of the mind controlled Stellar Rangers. The strings were burning away completely from around her, and she shook off the remnants of the mind control.

“Oh, I hear most of the things in the--”

“Cassie told her.” Octavian casually interrupted.

“She did no--”

“ENOUGH!” Stellos boomed. “How DARE you besmirch my beloved! I DEMAND to know what is going on, immediately! Why have you broken free from the Puppetrix’s control!? What is Dark Star doing?!”

Senine made a talking motion with her hand. She leapt up, and then floated in the air above the circle of death below. “I broke free because her power got sucked into my heart’s event horizon. Control powers and stuff like it don’t work very well on me. It’s part of the ‘I’m fifteen and already half dead’ package. As for besmirching your beloved, don’t even give me that. Even if she was a good pure innocent scientist flower with completely benign reasons to rip the souls out of people, you’re using her power for hella evil.”

“We should slay them, My Baron.” Finneous suggested.

“Oh, also? You shouldn’t listen to your robot.” Gemini smiled casually. “It seemed awfully insistent to...” Gemini’s smile faded slightly. “To someone that you not know just how interested it is in the Penumbra.”

Stellos looked to Finneous. Finneous’s screen flashed for a moment, and then went to static. “They are lying, my Master. Perhaps we should silence them and give the Stellar Swords a chance to entertain us while you wait on Dark Star to--”

“How’d you know it was a chrysalis, anyway?” Gemini called up to the balcony. “You were pretty specific in what you called it.”

Octavian shook his head. “Poor play. That, essentially, gave you away. I would imagine a robot would be better at lying.”

Stellos looked down at Finneous. He raised his scepter and smashed it down onto Finneous’s screen, shattering it completely. The robot sparked, staggered, and fell to the ground.

“I will sift through his memory later, and we will get to the bottom of this.” Stellos tapped his scepter against the bannister. “However, his idea was intriguing. I am rather bored, and if the three of you will not be controlled, then my position will be all the better if you are similarly imperiled. Lada. Rex.” He gestured down to Gemini, Octavian, and Senine. “Deal with them.”

Rex leapt from the balcony and landed in a crouch, his massive sword manifesting in his artificial limb. Lada hovered down beside him and gave a deep curtsey.

“I’ll take Lada.” Senine manifested her sledge and drifted down to where Octavian and Gemini were standing.

“I’ll take toothy.” Gemini held her scythe at the ready.

“Oh, I’ll help whoever needs it.” Octy’s bow appeared in hand, with a mist-hafted arrow already nocked in it. “Mostly, I’m just happy to be included.”

Three windows appeared behind Lada. She gave Senine a sweet smile. “No conceding, this time.”

“You say that like I’m the one that quit.” Senine shifted her grip on her hammer.

“Finally! I’ll be able to kill one of you.” Rex growled.

Gemini laughed loudly and abruptly, before glancing at Rex and saying in her most patronizing tone, “Oh, you were serious.”

Octavian sighed dramatically. “Fine, no one trash talk me. I see how it is! I’ll just have to endure without.”

 

****

 

June did not, exactly, know where she was.

It was a vast, featureless space that she was floating above. The sky overhead was solid, unyielding darkness, with not a single star to be seen. Below her was an endless landscape of light, brilliant and surging. She could not stand on it, could not exist near it nor the darkness above. 

June blinked, and now, the darkness stretched out below her like an endless, yawning chasm. The sea of light was now a vault above her, too bright to look at, much like the darkness was too dark to comprehend.

“Hello?” She called, and the noise reverberated all around her. June could feel the beat in the word, and then all around her. Filling her and everything around her with that singular, full pulse.

Two figures appeared before her. Two forms, indistinctly feminine, one made of light, and the other from darkness. They were two and also one, the same being from two different angles simultaneously.

“Hello, Nemesis.” They spoke as one, but they did not speak in sync. June could not tell where one’s voice began and the other ended.

“Are...you the Penumbra?” She asked, though she knew the answer.

“Yes and no. You are the Penumbra. We are the Penumbra. We are you. You are us.”

“I...” June looked between them. “So...am I worthy? Did...I do what I was supposed to? Am I the proper vessel?”

The figures looked between each others, and then at June. “That is the hope.”

“...Why do I get the feeling that that’s not...” June then grimaced and grabbed midsection.

“Right now, the Penumbra is filling you. Changing you. It is finishing what it has started. It will either kill you, or you will be capable of wielding it at last.”  
June’s markings were burning with black and white flame. The fire felt like it was coming from inside her skin, underneath her flesh.

“Why do you wish to wield the Penumbra?” They were now on either side of June. 

“To protect my friends!” June screamed, and fire poured from her mouth as it opened, charring her lips.

“That is noble.” Pain shot through her once again. “But it is not enough. Your soul must be as ready as your body. If you are not, then it, we, you, will consume it.”

 

****

 

Gemini blocked a swing from Rex’s sword with the haft of her scythe and slowly moved back. A grey aura pulsed around her, and she moved with precise, but lively, steps.

“Put a bit more energy into it!” Gemini taunted, blocking another swipe. “I mean it. I want to drain you faster.”

“How can you drain me?! I am immune to magic!” Rex lifted his sword, and it glowed with a dull light before he slammed it down. Gemini blocked it, but was not prepared for the force behind the blow and was knocked away.

She got to her feet and grinned at him. “How? I’m using death magic to drain your life energy, and you complain about why that energy isn’t stopping me? It’s like wrapping yourself in steaks to fend off a tiger.”

Rex’s sword glowed once again. “Regardless, I have plenty of energy from these stolen stars, and I am still your better. Prepare to taste--”

A swirling whirlwind full of snow smashed into Rex, causing him to sputter and drop his sword. While he was distracted, Gemini bolted forward, and sank her scythe into Rex’s prosthetic arm. She ripped it out, and, while there was no wound, the stars in it all went out at once, and it immediately stopped moving.

“Word of advice? Try not to use a prosthetic powered by the souls of the damned around a reaper, okay?”

Octavian, having gotten no thanks from Gemini from his intervention, turned to Senine. She was in the midst of her fight with Lada, who was gathering a truly impressive amount of swords behind her. Their section of the walkway was littered with gouges and slices, as well as smashed stonework and perfectly round holes.

Lada lifted a hand in a flourish, and three swords raised to strike. “You’ve improved, Void. I am very pleased and very excited to face someone of your caliber again.” She lowered her hands and launched all three swords at Senine.

Senine responded the throwing a Crusher Ball into the midst of them. The glass was pulled towards the center and smashed into a central mass. “They thing about almost dying is that sometimes people try to not-die afterwards. Crazy, I know.”

“Well.” Lada summoned another fifteen windows, and filled the sky above Senine with glass swords. “I’m afraid you will have to try much harder than that.”

A small tornado suddenly surrounded Lada. The wind disrupted her hold on the shards making up the swords, pulling them into the whirling vortex around her. In that moment, Senine leapt up and smashed Lada in the torso with her hammer, sending her careening down onto the ground in a rolling, groaning heap.

The tornado fell, and with it, the glass fell to the ground all around the prone and injured Lada. Senine gave Octavian a thumbs’ up. There was the sweet, sweet validation he had been hoping for.

“Enough!” Stellos yelled. “Rangers, stand down. Stellar Swords, return to me.”

Senine had never seen someone hover with a limp, before, but she did now as Lada moved back to her position by the Baron. Rex started to scale wall, which he was surprisingly adept with his artificial arm’s dead weight.

“As I said before,” Stellos had regained some portion of his cool, though his voice was still raised more than he had intended. “The brightest of your generation. Your group would have made a fine batch of Stellar Swords, had things turned out differently. Though, I do have some openings...perhaps once your friend has turned over my prize, I will ask for any who wish to serve me.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Senine flipped off the Baron.

“As much as I hate to agree with Hilde, here.” Gemini gave the Baron the double fingers.

“Also, Gemini, you can go fuck yourself, too.”

Gemini blew a kiss at her.

“ENOUGH!” Stellos boomed, and his voice shook the hall. “I grow impatient.”

“We should destroy them and the ball, Baron.” The Puppetrix repeated. “It’s far too dangerous.”

“If you are suggesting we give up after all of this effort, Puppetrix, then I suggest you stop talking and do as you are told.” Stellos extended his hand and pointed down towards the group below. “Half a human hour is nearly over, and if she does not relinquish the weapon by then, you are all going to die.”

It was then that the orb began to spark and grow.

 

******

 

“Why do you want the Penumbra, Nemesis?”

“B-because--” June screamed as she felt more markings burnt into her flesh, on her legs, chest, back, and face. “--because I--I--I...”

“Why, Nemesis?”

“There...there are bad people. I...I need to stop them. I have to save people...I...I n-need to protect everyone. N--n-not just my friends--” June shrieked with pain. “E-everyone.”

“You are nearly there.” The forms that were and were not the Penumbra said. “Just a little more.”

“And it...it is me. It is mine and, and, and....I am its.”

The light flared, and the darkness grew.

“It will manifest when you need it. When you will it. It will be the weapon you are most proficient in.”

“My...” June felt electric. Pain faded into a dull after-sense. “...daggers?”

“No. They are your star’s weapon. They are not the weapon you are most proficient in.”

The light dimmed, and the darkness started to fade.

“We are ready. You are worthy. The first in generations. Step forward, June Hespia, bearer of the Penumbra, Nemesis reborn. Step forward, and be just.”

 

*****

 

The ball vanished, and in its place was June.

“Finally!” Stellos called down at her. “You were nearly out of time, Dark Star. Do you have it?”

“June!” Senine rushed up to her, but June held up a hand to keep her back. “Are you okay?”  
The black stars, and white-in-black stars were now emblazoned in a seemingly random spray across June’s right cheek, and down her neck. Her hands were similarly marked, and much more of her, not visible beneath her coat and clothing, was also branded. “I do have it, and I’m...I guess okay’s a good word for it?” She looked up at Stellos. “Please. Let us go and leave this planet. This will not end well for you.”

“I still have all of the cards, Dark Star. Give me the Penumbra, or watch your friends die.”

“You want the Penumbra? Are you sure.”

The Puppetrix spoke again. “We need to destroy her while we have the chance, Baron.”

“Silence!” Stellos shouted. “I am out of patience, Dark Star. Surrender now or watch your friends kill each other. This is your final warning.”

June sighed. She placed one hand in front of her chest, and gripped something that was not there. A shaft of black and white fire appeared in her hand, and she yanked it free from her chest. The flame washed over June, and then subsided.

When it cleared, June was wearing her hair in long pigtails. It was now half black and half white, the split going exactly down center of her hair. One of her eyes was now a white ring in a black sea, and the other was a black ring in a white sea. She wore a long coat, half black and half white, with a similarly half white, half black sunburst emblazoned on the back. She had a sleeveless white top underneath, one perfectly tailored for her. A pleated black skirt was on under that, with black and white striped leggings further underneath that. She wore one black boot and one white boot.

And slung around her neck, resting in her hands, was a black and white electric guitar, one with tuning keys like blades and that crackled energy even when dormant.

“What...what is this!?” Stellos called. “I demand an explanation.”

One black wing and one white wing appeared behind her, and gave a single beat, sending her into the air, on Stellos’s level. They vanished when she reached that point,

and she hovered in place. “This is the Penumbra. My Penumbra.”

“Destroy her, Baron. Now.”

“Give it to me. Now.”

“No.” June’s wings beat again, before vanishing. “Never. You don’t even understand what you’re asking. You can’t comprehend what this is. Just. Let my friends go and leave.”

“Puppetrix!” Stellos shouted.

Finneous rose up from behind Stellos. He grabbed a thread that was not there, and looped it around a part of the baron. The robot pulled a snag, and Stellos, Lada, and Rex all hung still, like broken marionettes with their strings cut. A moment later, every single soldier at attention similarly fell limp.

The Puppetrix sighed. “I was hoping it would not come to this. But he does not understand, does he?”

“Wait, the robot’s...?” Gemini shouted, and then her eyes widened. “A robot is a mechanical puppet.”

“Correct. Finneous has always been just an extension of me. One with some autonomy, of course.” The Puppetrix stood on the railing of the balcony and bowed. “I have a few stashed away, amidst various clients of mine. Stellos would be hard pressed to remember where or when he acquired Finneous. But that is beside the point, is it not?”

“What do you want, Puppetrix?” June’s wings flapped and disappeared once again, maintaining her hovering stance.

“I wanted, my dear abomination, to see you explode. To watch as you detonated and took yourself, this host, and this town with you.” As she gestured, the girls below fell out of their death-stances, and turned towards June. “Unfortunately, that is not an option, now.”

“But...you would’ve killed yourself.” Senine called. “And Stellos but that seems to increasingly not be a problem with you.”

“Oh, no.” The Puppetrix suddenly had a knife, which she stabbed in her own chest. “I’m afraid it’s all puppets, here. The real me is...not here. If there is a real me. Close enough to watch the fireworks, perhaps. If I could figure out which set of eyes is mine.”

“Why?” June hovered a bit closer. “Why do you want to set off the Penumbra?”

“Because, my dear, dear love.” The Puppetrix’s featureless puppet face looked into June’s. Finneous approached June, now holding his Jester Scepter as a staff. Amber’s arms snapped up, and aimed her rifle right at June. Auggie’s crackling batons were also pointed up, at June. “I am an agent of despair.”

A heavy field of gravity came into existence around the controlled girls. Amber and Auggie’s shots were pulled wide. At the same moment, Finneous leapt at June, his staff now a large, wicked glaive. The glaive, however, came down on a shimmering black and white field rather than June’s flesh.

Senine and Octavian leapt up, onto the railing, with Octavian firing an arrow at Finneous in the process. It struck the robot in the broken screen, and also drew its attention away from June. Gemini followed a few moments later, climbing up and over the railing.

“You focus on the puppet, June, we’ll handle the robot.” Senine said, bringing her hammer back.

Finneous’s staff turned into a similar hammer. “Your star is on record. I am an unbeatable killing machine, capable of replicating--”

A slap made of compressed air smashed the robot in the face, and three more arrows shot into its body.

“Leave the theatrics to the professionals.” Octavian said with a flip of his hair.

The girls below started to stand. June floated back, and played a chord off her guitar. A bolt of dark and light energy shot from it and towards the Puppetrix, who leapt away to perch on an invisible wire.

“It’s a shame that killing your friends is no longer viable. At this stage, even if you did that, I’m afraid you’ll survive the blast. That is simply unacceptable.” She leapt to another wire, trailing along something with a free hand. Lada’s head snapped up and sunk to the side. Three windows appeared behind her, each of these displaying the Puppetrix.

Mass-enhanced hammer met mass-enhanced hammer. Senine was knocked back, towards the edge of the spacious balcony, while Finneous lost no ground at all. The robot spun and blocked a scythe blow from Gemini, and pulled its staff apart into a pair of matching kama, slicing both and, with them, sending two cutting air-pressure blades after the twin.

She spun her scythe and blocked both blows, but was not prepared for the follow up of lunging with both blades high. The attack did not connect, however, as a twister came by once again and tossed the robot away. It landed in a tangle of limbs but immediately hopped to its feet, now wielding a trident. It stabbed at Octavian, but found its blow suddenly pulled wide by a sudden gravitational flux. Octy danced out of the way, and shot three more arrows Finneous’s way, though none made their target.

A hail of stained glass shards shot towards June. She played another chord, and the shimmering black and white field surrounded her. The stained glass bounced off her shield, leaving June unharmed. However, lighting began to crash against her shield, over and over again. Metal ripped itself from the walls and smashed into it, along with bullet after bullet from the Adamant Rifle. A howl ran through the halls, and June covered her ears reflexively, letting her sheild drop for a fraction of a second, causing a jolt to run through her and a glass blade to knick her leg.

“It’s a shame, to have to kill you the old fashioned way.” The Puppetrix was hanging from a nearby invisible line. “This will not have nearly the...impact on the future bearers of the Penumbra that I require. It will have to suffice. I will find the next one. I will destroy them or force them to destroy themselves. You will fall.”  
June reached out, and grabbed the invisible string. The Puppetrix, even though her face had no features, looked to this in clear surprise. 

Black and white fire surged from her, along the invisible string and right to the Puppetrix. Fire raged to the puppet, and from her, it spiderwebbed in all directions, running through to the Stellar Rangers, and to the soldiers, and to Stellos and Lada and Rex. The flames flared brightly, and then the Puppetrix fell from her perch a burning mass of rags and limbs. Finneous froze for a moment, and that was when a hammer connected with its head and launched it from the balcony.  
June’s expression was less ‘triumph’ and more ‘holy shit that actually worked.’

Stellos fell to the balcony floor, alond with Rex and Lada. June’s wings flapped once, and sent her back to the ground, next to the smoldering remains of the Puppetrix. The puppet immediately sprang to her feet, four knives in hand, and tried to pounce.

June knocked her away with her guitar, and then did not play a chord. She started to play a song. Two long prong-like blades extended from base of the guitar. Black and white energy began to crackle along it the more she played. The puppet got up and tried to lunge again.

“Dark Star Riot.”

A massive, crackling blast of black and white energy erupted from the Penumbra, consuming the Puppetrix and then cascading past her, lancing out through a nearby tower, and then past that as well, burning through a wall until it finally dissipated.

 

Somewhere, high above the planet, a small ship suddenly burst into flames and fell out of orbit, immediately beginning a rapid descent towards the planet’s surface.

 

A metal bola shot from a point behind June, wrapping around her arms and torso before a second wrapped around her legs. Finneous approached her, its whole body sparking and shuddering, but still moving smoothly and fluidly.

Gemini, Octy, and Senine dropped down next to June. They summoned their weapons and stood beside her.

“I am the greatest weapon of war ever made.” Finneous switched its weapon to a scythe. Its body began to glow green and grey. “I have copied countless stars, countless weapons. You cannot defeat me.”

“Dude?” Augusta said, standing on shaky legs from where she had been controlled. “There’s a really big problem with your thesis.”

“I am undefeatable.”

Amber stood up next to her, with the other girls rising behind her. “Like? You’re made of metal.” Amber lifted her hand, and then closed it.

There was a horrible crunching noise, and then what was left of Finneous dropped onto the ground, crunched up like a ball of tinfoil.

Cassie pulled Faye up, channeling energy into her as she went. Faye glanced around, and then saw June. Her eyes went wide, and she bounded over to her girlfriend and gave her a big hug. “Junie! You’re different! It looks great!”

“Heh. Thanks.” June blushed black against white skin. “Having the Penumbra out changes me. I’ll go back to normal when it’s dormant again.”

“...Is the Penumbra a guitar?” Cassie asked, giving it a questioning look.

“Yes. Sort of. It is for me.” June shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s sweet, Junie, nice job not exploding.” Auggie nudged her.

“I try.”

Even Amber smiled. “I’ve never been happier to be wrong.”

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Baron Stellos howled. 

“The Puppetrix was using you to make me explode. When I didn’t, she used your robot--one of her minions--to tie you up and she tried to kill me. It didn’t work.” June’s wings manifested, and she shot up a few dozen yards, so she would hover between her friends and the Baron. “She doesn’t have any puppets here, anymore, and you’ve lost the edge of her aid. It’s over, Stellos.”

“No, Stellar Ranger Dark Star.” Baron Stellos spat. “It will not be over until I have claimed what is mine.”


	23. Episode Twenty-Three:  The Last Stand of Baron Stellos

“You don’t have anything left, Baron.” June called up to him. “Just let us walk away. What would Kilaua say if she saw you like this?”

Baron Stellos glared down at June. “I do have something left, Stellar Ranger Dark Star, and it is because of her that I have it. My darling Kilaua. She left me with something greater than even the Penumbra. My servants have not been able to stop you. So you leave me with no choice. Perhaps, I will be able to extract the Penumbra from your smoldering corpse.”

Lada and Rex looked to each other, and then to the Baron. Lada spoke. “Please, Baron, please, no.” She then looked down at the Stellar Rangers. “Please, stop him immediately!”

Rex manifested his sword, and held it at the Baron. “Sir. No. Allow us to fight again. Don’t--”

Baron Stellos whistled a high tune, and his remaining Stellar Swords, and every single one of his soldiers, collapsed.

“...This is not good.” Gemini took a step back. “He just...severed their connections to their star hearts.”

“I will remake my army and my collection here. I will start anew, and the Earth will be the new seat of my Barony.” Baron Stellos removed his cloak, and tossed it aside. His shoulders were heavily armored, and the mechanism within them unfolded into a pair of pyramid-like structures. Baron Stellos lifted his scepter with both arms and smashed it down over his knee. It shattered, and then June’s vision filled with blinding light.

When the light faded, June recoiled in horror. Gemini and Cassie’s jaws dropped, and Octavian’s eyes widened.

Baron Stellos’s shoulder devices, as well as his chest, stomach, and crowns, were glowing with hundreds if not thousands of lights. Each and every light was part of Stellos’s collection. They were his victims, and his soldiers, and the line between those was no longer entirely relevant.

June started to play her guitar.

Before anything could come of that, however, the Balcony exploded. A strong force shook through the entire castle, knocking over towers and sending pieces of castle in all directions. June immediately switched songs, going from something hard and violent to something more subdued, but still insistent. Debris ricocheted off the shimmering black and white field around her. 

The others were already running towards the gates. A hard beat of June’s wings sent her soaring along with them. The eight Rangers managed to bolt through the outer gates just in time to avoid the battlements of the castle from collapsing upon them, and continued to run and fly until they were a good distance away from it.

Something large moved in the wreckage. It moved with footfalls that shook the earth underneath it, footfalls that could be felt even from a distance, and its silhouette was clearly visible in the fading sunlight.

It stepped through the clouds of dust and debris, fifty feet high, a stout creature in heavy armor and covering in glittering lights. Baron Stellos’s mask had fallen off during his transformation. His face was vaguely reptilian, except made of thick, armor plating rather than simply scales. His powerful jaws had almost square edges, and his sharp teeth almost seemed an extension of his armor. He had three eyes, each glowing a brilliant white, which paled to that of his crown. June could feel from here that every single star heart in that armor, the entire collection of Baron Stellos, was slowly burning itself out.

Stellos let out a roar, and lifted his hand. A massive golden hilt formed in it, and as he slammed it forward, a golden chain manifested connected to it. The head of his massive flail appeared right before it smashed into the ground, a gigantic, lion-headed weight that sent a shock through the ground so hard it knocked Auggie, Cassie, and Gemini off of their feet.

June immediately started to play again, and the lance of destruction that was the Dark Star Riot shot towards Baron Stellos, and smashed him right in the chest.  
Aside from a slight dent in his armor, Baron Stellos was unharmed.

“YOU HAVE BUT TWO STARS. THEY ARE POWERFUL. BUT THEY ARE ONLY TWO.” The Baron stepped towards the others, every step shaking the earth, making surprisingly fast time for something so large. “MY STAR GIVES ME STRENGTH. AND IT IS BOLSTERED BY HUNDREDS MORE.”

“Okay.” Senine summoned her hammer. “When the ancient doom weapon everyone is afraid of doesn’t do anything, maybe we should start thinking of other options.”  
Stellos lifted his flail up and began to twirl it, before slamming it back down, right at the Rangers. They ran in all directions, and when the flail’s head struck the ground, they were thrown by the shock of it, sending them and a thin layer of dirt flying.

June shot up, away from the ground with a beat of her wings. Stellos’s massive, armored hand shot forward and grabbed June, immediately tightening around the shimmering field around her. June immediately started to play, but the strength of the fist only seemed to increase the more it crushed.

“Hey!” Came a shout from the Baron’s shoulder. Gemini hung on it with one arm, the other holding her scythe. “Let’s see how big you are without these!” She stabbed the blade of the scythe into the device and pulled it down. Gemini’s grin stopped, however, when only the stars the blade touched faded away.

“HA HA HA. DID YOU THINK I HAVE NOT DEALT WITH YOUR KIND BEFORE? KILAUA TAUGHT ME WELL. REX’S ARM WAS ONLY A PALE REFLECTION OF WHAT I HAVE.” Stellos threw June into the ground and then reached back to swat at Gemini. She dropped off the arm, gravity lessening before she hit enough to mean she did not hurt herself upon landing. She ran towards the others as the Baron’s massive foot lifted off the ground and started to come down over her.

Before she could be crushed, a blue streak grabbed her and pulled her out as fast as a lightning flash. The foot came down, and even Auggie was not fast enough to pull Gemini free from the shockwave of the footfall--both of them were sent careening into the farmland before rolling to a stop.

Another massive, crackling blast of light and dark energy smashed into Baron Stellos, this time into his head. He let out a snarl of surprise at the attack, and when the energy faded, his left eye looked to be closed from the impact. “IS THAT ALL?” Stellos turned towards June and lifted his flail again. “IS THIS ALL THAT WAS PROMISED BY THE PENUMBRA? IT IS OF NO CONSEQUENCE WHEN COMPARED TO MY POWER.”

“....I have something else I can do.” June said, looking over at Senine. “But...it’s going to mean I stand still and I can’t use my shield when I do it and once it’s done, I’m going to be out of Penumbra use for, like, a week.”

The flail came down, and the rangers scattered once more. Once again, the shock from the hit knocked them all flying, and they landed hard. When Auggie stood, she was limping. Amber was pretty sure her arm had just been dislocated.

“EVEN ON A MISS, I AM DESTROYING YOU BY DEGREES. YOU CANNOT HARM ME EVEN WITH YOUR STRONGEST HIT.”

June’s wings beat behind her as she floated back up to about chest height on Stellos. Two long blades once again extended from her guitar’s base. The body then split down the middle, and as it opened, two triangular mini-speakers folded out from it, resting alongside the tuning blades. She started to play again, this time sending out a beat that everyone present could feel resonating through them,

Stellos’s mailed fist slammed forward, right for June. Faye shot up from the ground like a bullet, arms now wings, and intercepted the fist, smashing into it with all of her strength. Faye was knocked back, but, somehow, managed to deflect the attack. As she fell back to the earth, she let out a howl, and even Stellos cringed when he heard it, withdrawing his fist to hold his ear holes.

“Faye!” June shouted as Faye hit the ground and bounced. When she rolled onto the ground, she was still breathing, but did not seem responsive, otherwise. June narrowed her eyes at Stellos, and then continued to play--a song that went hard and fast, but seemed to be building up to some sort of climax.

Stellos removed his hands from his ears and re-summoned his flail. He lifted it over his head to smash it down once again, this time on Stellar Ranger Dark Star. When he tried to pull it down, however, the weight of the flail’s head resisted his pull.

Amber and Senine were both standing with their arms out, though only the non-dislocated one for Amber. Both were battered and beaten by the Baron’s onslaught, and both were straining to hold the flail down. Sweat beaded, and their arms shook, but they held position.

Auggie looked to her brother. “Think you’re up for a storm? Cause I have an idea.”

“I’m always up for causing a stir.” Octavian and Auggie took each other’s hands, and, overhead, swirling clouds began to form, first white, but quickly turning grey, and then black. Lightning danced across the sky, first sparsely, and then with more and more frequency.

Stellos put both of his hands on the haft of the flail and pulled. Senine and Amber grimaced, and then took each other’s hands, and the flail’s head pulled itself down even harder.

Cassie lifted her hands, and trees pulled themselves up from the ground, entangling the Baron’s legs. Stellos kicked them off without a problem, shattering the trunks and uprooting them immediately.

“Nice, sis.” Gemini limped up beside her. “I think he almost noticed that.”

Cassie frowned. There was blood coming down her forehead. “Just take my hand and kill whatever I grow.”

Gemini and Cassie joined hands. A fresh batch of trees pushed themselves up from under the Baron. As he started to brush them off, they went grey and dead, and almost immediately, fresh trees broke through their corpses, even more than before, and as they died, more trees burst from them, as well, in a constant cycle of death and rebirth, keeping Stellos entangled.

Stellos cursed aloud, and released his flail. One hand batted at the encroaching green, while the other shot out once again at June. Faye once again flew up, this time with Senine in her talons. Senine’s Hammer of the Dying Star slammed into the knuckles of the oversized appendage. Stellos pulled back his hand in reflex from the sudden pain, cursing aloud. Senine’s hammer shattered at the blow, and she and Faye were knocked wide, into a tailspin towards the ground.

When he pulled his arm back, his armor groaned in protest, actively resisting his motions to strike again. Amber’s nose was bleeding, and her whole body was shaking. A rust-ride sheen started to cover the joints of his armor.

“ALL OF THIS IS DELAYING THE INEVITABLE. I AM TOO STRONG TO--”

Several massive lightning bolts shot down from the swirling clouds. Every single one targeted Baron Stellos’s left shoulder mechanism, and they did not simply flash, either--huge amount of electricity came down into it, crackling and roaring and sparking everywhere.

Senine, now with a broken arm, launched a crusher ball at the same point. Amber shifted her focus, and started to slowly open her hand from its fist.

The heart trap on Baron Stellos’s left shoulder exploded. All of the hearts on it suddenly winked out, the lights going dead.

Baron Stellos roared, but Faye, broken ribs, on the ground, roared back. Stellos grimaced again, and would have stumbled back, were the trees not holding him in place. His left arm hung limp, probably from the shrapnel from the detonated device sunk inside his shoulder.

“Dark.” June began as the song started to wind to a close with a frantic, intricate final number. “Star.” Energy crackled all around her, and the tuning blades began to spin like a drill. Black and white fire gathered around them, and, in turn, gathered around June. “Finale!”

A beam of energy approximately three times as wide as June was tall fired forward, straight into Baron Stellos’s chest. Stellos let out a cry of alarm, but he withstood the beam. It flashed white and black, light and dark, so quickly that the girls watching had to avert their eyes from strain.

“I...I AM BARON STELLOS. I CAN WITHSTAND...WITHSTAND ANYTHING!”

June shifted the blast, slightly, so that it covered the heart trap on his right shoulder. It cracked and shattered, and Stellos let out a scream of pain and rage.

The beam turned back on Stellos’s chest, and, after just a moment, it shot past him, through him.

June’s guitar vanished, and the beam died with it. She immediately started to fall, her hair, eyes, and clothing returning to normal during her descent.

Before she could hit, something soft grabbed her, and then tumbled with her on an unusually slow fall to the ground. Faye wrapped her wings around June, and, together, they had a soft impact on the snowy ground below.

 

  
***

 

June woke in a very familiar spot--the Tower’s infirmary. As usual, she was not alone--Faye and Auggie were in the beds beside her, with Amber, Cassie, Gemini, Senine, and Octavian in the others.

Mr. Vember and Leah were sitting in nearby chairs. When they saw June wake up, Mr. Vember immediately rushed over to her bedside. “Miss Hespia, please, remain in bed and rest. Your work is done.”

“What happened?” June could feel all of her markings burning. “Did we...win?”

“Yes.” Vember gave her a relieved smile. “Yes, you did. All of you did--I shall claim only the most cursory responsibility. Baron Stellos’s shattered armor will take some time to clean up, as well as his castle, but that is, fortunately enough, not our department. However, the effort has exhausted all of you, I am afraid. Rest. Sleep. You have earned it.”

June closed her eyes and nodded. She started to drift off when her eyes snapped open. “Wait, so, Baron Stellos is dead?”

Vember nodded. “Yes, Miss Hespia, I can say with certainty, given what remains of his body that is left in his armor, that, he is either dead, or, if alive,

 

“He will not last long.”

 

Baron Stellos crawled through the snow-filled farmland. He was smaller now, around the same size he was before harvesting all of his collection, if a little smaller than that--the fact that he was missing much of his lower body and his right arm nonwithstanding.

Blood bubbled around his jaws. There was only one light on his crown, now, a red-and-gold swirling heart, one that was shrinking and waning as he moved.

“Baron Stellos.” Lanessa de Vran Sie was standing before him, where no one had been a moment previously. “You have done your job admirably.” She knelt down and pushed back her hood. Unlike the Baron, her breath was not visible in the cold, winter air.

“Wh..who..” He coughed, and blood came with it.

“Oh! My mistake.” Lanessa shimmered, and then she was a woman the same species as Baron Stellos, with pink armor plating rather than Stellos’s red. “Is this better? Oh, I had forgotten how this felt. It’s a bit stiff, less flexible than human.”

“K...Kilaua?” Stellos pulled himself forward, and extended his remaining arm towards her. “B-beloved. I did...did your research. I made...made a collection that....that..” He coughed again, bringing up more blood. “now...now you have come to take me. Take. Take me to the afterlife.”

“Oh, my sweet Baron.” Kilaua-who-was-Lanessa stood up. “I would have had to have died, first. Oh, you performed so well. I lend you some of my power under the guise of a scientific discovery, you collect hearts, and you challenge the holder of the Penumbra. Awaken her as I need her.”

“...the...the fire...”

“A man will believe many things, Baron Stellos.” Lanessa held her hand over him, and wisps of a dark energy left him and entered her. “Principal among them is that a woman will die for him. The Savage Stars were there because I called them. Because I found you and saw that you had the potential. The potential to be one of my...Nemesis Traps.” She was no longer in the form of Kilaua. “Ah! There’s my power, back. You know, I hope whatever star vampire gave that...puppet her abilities comes back for them. Assuming she’s still alive to return them.”

Baron Stellos could not keep his eyes open. He was laying in a pool of his own blood.

“It’s a bit of a crude technique--larval Vran Sie use it, before they discover a better way of manipulation. First, powers, and then...expectations.” She turned back to Stellos. “Oh, but back to you. See, you and those using your technique--my technique. The Hollow Hearts. They trap the Penumbra because they feel, well...Like me. Like an abomination from beyond the Night. You felt like a little piece of despair and they could not resist but to run after you and yours. Of course, I’ve learned to hide.” She shrugged, and looked down at the Baron.

“You’re not even paying attention, anymore. Given the circumstances, I won’t hold it against you. In fact, you’re the first trap to have paid off in a long time--the Penumbra has been safely awakened, and her prowess with it has been proven by her and her allies destroying your barony. You deserve a reward.”

Lanessa pulled up her hood, and placed her hand over the waning light on his crown. Red and gold pulled itself from the light, and into Lanessa, until there was no light left. “Now, you will be with your Kilaua, always.”

Baron Stellos’s crown ran black, and twisted. His body crumbled away into ash.

Lanessa was gone before the winter wind could blow it away.

 

****

 

June woke up with a knock at her door, just like every other school day.

The door opened before she could get up, and in came Auggie, Cassie, Faye, and Amber. “Hey Junie! Up and at-em, it’s time to finally get up!”

“Oh...hey! Why are all of you guys here?” She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

“No reason.” Auggie said with a slight smile, and then Senine came in the room, holding a rather sizable cake.

“We’re having a ‘We-Beat-The-Bad-Guy Day’ off of school.” She put the cake down on the bed. It said, ‘Congratulations on not Exploding’ on it in frosting. 

“...Why does this involve a cake on my bed.”

Cassie came in with Gemini next to her. “You did not wake up when called and Gemini must return to her captivity soon.”

“But it’s like, the morning.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “For like fifteen mor minutes.”

“...I slept through my alarm?” June looked to her clock. 11:45.

Julius pushed into the room as well. “And me knocking and yelling for about ten minutes. There’s pizza. This is the first time you haven’t woken up for pizza.”

“Wow, why doesn’t just everyone enter my room!”

Faye was on the bed with June. “They would, but Leah’s ordering more food and Mr. Vember’s still dealing with cleaning up Stellos’s mess!”

“Aside from bed-cake and pizza.”

“The pizza’s gone.” Amber said, eyeing June’s posters. 

“You ate it all??”

Senine poked her. “We’re teens who also used like all of our energy and also healed from bruises and broken bones all over our bodies because of magic.”

June sighed. “Okay. I’ll just eat some cake before the food co--Hey!” She shouted as Senine pulled the cake away.

“No cake until lunch.” Senine said with a very slight smirk. “And stop pouting! Your biggest concern right now is that you can’t eat cake--given the past five months, that’s a pretty good deal.”

“She’s right, Junie! Come on!” Faye took June’s hand and started pulling her out of bed. “Let’s celebrate!”

“Yeah...okay.” June smiled and stood. “But everyone’s got to get out of here so I can get dressed.”

Gemini made no move to leave. Faye and Cassie grabbed her and pulled her out of the room.

When she was alone, June moved to her mirror. She looked at her markings, that which were visible, and then out the window, into the sunlight for the first time in a very long time without her protective sunglasses on.

She wanted to believe that her biggest concern was not getting cake.

 

Far, far away, floating in the Atlantic Ocean, the flaming wreck of a small, triangular space ship bobbed on the surf.

 

Something told June, however, that this was only the beginning, that were would be worse hardships to come, and, beyond that, that there was something out there that she had overlooked.

 

A hatch opened on the ship, and from it came a gloved hand, and then another--both the right hand.

 

And that, while they had a brief reprieve, June could not help but feel like this was only the beginning of a long, hard road.


	24. Stellar Ranger Dark Star Series One Finale

June’s wings manifested and beat upwards, sending her out of the way of a Crusher Ball. A shield formed around her just in time to plink three blue arrows off of it and leave her unharmed.

  
“Go June!” Faye yelled from the sidelines. “You can do it!”

“Yeah June! Kick some Goth ass!” Amber added. Both were dressed in their cheerleading outfits.

Janice was here as well, standing beside Mr. Vember and Leah. She glanced up at Mr. Vember with a curious look. “You sure this is safe?”

“Trust me, Miss Airie.” Mr. Vember smiled down at her. “I would not be allowing this to occur if it was not.”

Senine’s hammer connected with June’s shield. It rebounded with little effect. The Penumbra-enhanced June’s wings manifested for another moment to shoot her out of the way--and right into the path of a tiny tornado. The wind picked her up and shook her around before launching her into a wall, which her shield bounced off of.

“I believe that is enough, for now!” Vember called.

Octavian banished his bow, and Senine her hammer. June made sure she was securely on the ground before dropping her bubble. The Penumbra vanished in a puff of flame, and June was back to normal.

“You should’ve tried to fire back.” Senine said as she approached June. 

“The last times I fired, I tore a hole through a castle and obliterated a giant.” June breathed out a shaky breath and rubbed the markings on her arms.

“Don’t Riot us. Why would you Riot us?” Senine rolled her eyes. “Smaller blasts. Plus, this is the Training Room, you can’t hurt us if you try, here.”

“Still.” June accepted a bottle of water that Faye handed to her. “The Penumbra’s not really safe. I haven’t even really tried a whole lot of smaller stuff--I think the more destructive, energy intensive stuff comes easier, honestly.”

“It was still pretty damn impressive, Junie.” Janice said as she walked up to them. 

“Oh, god, another Junie?”

She shrugged. “Faye and Auggie got me hooked on it, blame them.”

Amber caught up with them. “Don’t worry, like, I’m never calling you Junie.”

“Thank you. The pact is secured.” June said solemnly.

“Oh, God, whatever, nerd.” Amber rolled her eyes.

“So!” Janice walked in front of the others. “Tomorrow’s beach house day, right?”

“Right.” Senine glanced at her with a wry smirk. “That’s when we initiate you as an official Solar City Ranger.”

“Can I call a sick day on being hazed?” Janice looked to the others. “Is that a thing?”

“One can’t really call in sick on my sister embarrassing you.” Octy was hovering over the group on wind currents. “One can only find ammunition with which to fire back.”

“Oh. Is that it? Because I don’t really embarrass.”

“Me either!” Faye chimed in. “She doesn’t really try on me.”

“You got a pass, Faye.” Senine nudged her. “Because she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings by accident.”

“Auggie would never forgive herself.” Octy nodded.

“Hurt my feelings? What? I’m tough.”

June gave her a playful grin. “On the outside. You still cry about deer.”

Faye’s eyes watered and she gave June a playful punch on the arm that was probably going to bruise. “They’re so adorable and delicious! It’s not fair!”

“So, this is the worst that I’m going to face at the beach house?” Janice looked to the others. “Some light embarrassment?”

“Well, it’s going to be in Florida.” Senine shrugged. “So old people and alligators, too. Also, Cassie insisting that her family’s not rich even though it’s her family’s beach house.”

“And June’s birthday! Which is in June. Huh! I just got that!” Faye thought about it for a moment. “Weird!”

“My parents weren’t very imaginative. Julius was born in July. My birthday isn’t usually a hazard, don’t worry.” June made a happy sigh. “Yeah, as far as I know, there’s nothing really to worry about in Red Beach.”

 

******

 

Sheriff Mills had been in charge of the police force of Red Beach, Florida, for nearly ten years, and he had never seen anything quite like what he was looking at, now.

An alley fully half a mile from the beach that gave his quaint little tourist town its name had been reported as ‘flooded’ just half an hour ago. He had expected a broken water main, or an overflowing set of plumbing from a high room.

He had not expected an alley where all of the trashcans that had not been knocked over had been filled with seawater, nor the dumpsters still sloshing and leaking their wet contents all over the alley floor, or a water line a full twenty feet above the ground.

“You ever seen anything like this, Carl?” Mills called behind him, to the man he had left in the squad car.

No response came. Sheriff Mills turned around, and saw Carl standing outside the car. He was slumped over, hanging like a discarded marionette. 

Sheriff Mills started towards Carl, hand on his gun. “Carl?” The portly man called. He did not notice something scuttle down the wall behind him, like some sort of human-sized spider.

Suddenly Sheriff Mills seized up, and fell forward, just like his deputy had. He was not aware when the figure behind him started to loop something unseen around his limbs. He did not hear it mutter under its breath, “My, my, such strings you have.”

And he did not see the girl with sea green hair at the other end of the alley, watching with wide, frightened eyes.

 

**Stellar Ranger Dark Star Presents:**

 

**The Puppetrix’s Revenge**

 

It was ten in the morning when the flight touched down at an air field close to Red Beach. Auggie and Faye had the task of gently shaking June until she woke up, and Senine had the task carrying June off of the plane when that did not work.

June did not wake up until the van rented by Leah was on its way to the beach house in Red Beach.

“I...uh. Where’s...plane?” June looked out the window, and then to the blonde whose head was resting on her shoulder.

“You slept the whole time. You wouldn’t wake up. Drastic measures had to be taken.” Faye nuzzled June, who immediately blushed.

“That was some impressive sleeping, Junie.” Janice said, half-turned around in the front seat. “I put that up there with the time Destiny fell asleep in front of a speaker during a warmup.”

“Junie’s always asleep when we get her for school.” Auggie said from the back seat with Cassie and Amber.

“It is true.” Cassie added. “Every single day, in fact.”

“Guuuys!” She was blushing even more. “You were supposed to be embarrassing Janice! You always embarrass me.”

“We will have plenty of time, later. There is no point in resisting prey when offered, however.” Cassie said with a tiny smile on her face. 

“Nooooooo.” June shrunk down in her seat and covered her face. 

“What even makes you so tired, June?” Amber asked. “It’s, like, not like you exercise.”

“Shuuuut uuuuuup.”

“This is the punishment you get, Junie.” Auggie taunted. “For eating like you do, not exercising, and looking like that.”

“I can’t help it! Burning off energy is easy when you’re an extremely destructive weapon.”

Senine nodded. “I can vouch for that.”

Faye pouted at her. “Senine, you never eat.”

“I eat at least once a day.” She waved off her unofficial sibling.

Janice, who was still looking back in her seat, took notice of approaching blue-and-red flashing lights behind them. “...Hey, Miss Vember, are you speeding?”

“It’s Leah, and wh--” Leah saw the car behind her, and immediately pulled over on the Florida highway’s shoulder.

Everyone in the car expected the car to pass them, so it came as something of a surprise when it stopped behind them, lights still flashing.

“I don’t _think_ I was speeding.” Leah frowned. 

“So, you weren’t driving like normal, then.” Senine teased from the back.

“Quiet.”

The officer in question was a portly man with thick sunglasses and a bushy blond-grey mustache. He tapped on the driver’s side window, and looked inside the van when it opened.

Leah smiled at him and offered her driver’s lisence, but the officer--a sheriff, from the look of his badge--did not acknowledge her or reach for it. His eyes moved over each of the children in the car. “Going on a class trip?”

“It’s a school club, actually.” Leah very smoothly lied. “The astronomy club.”

He leaned into the window without regard for Leah’s personal space to get a better look at the people in the back. “Y’all got permission slips?”

“Yes, actually! Janice, could you get those out of the glove compartment?”

She opened the glove box and handed a stack of papers from it to Leah, who gave them to the sheriff. He picked them up and started to flip through them.

“Novias Vember.” He looked at Leah, now. “Why’d he sign these two’s slips?”

“He’s my dad. He’s Senine and Faye’s legal guardian.”

The sheriff grumbled, and looked through them some more. “What kinda name’s Hera?”

“My Mom’s name.” Amber immediately said. June shot her a look that she completely ignored.

“Where’s Octavian Levey?” The Sheriff glanced back into the car.

“He’s not here because he’s doing Shakespeare in the Park instead.” Auggie rolled her eyes and gave Cassie a comforting pat at the same time. “Which worked out okay because this way we don’t have to deal with Senine trying to drive.”

“I guarantee I could have outrun the cops--”

“Senine!” Leah said. “Not the time!”

“There’s no Senine on these forms.”

Senine immediately shut up and blushed. “My legal name is Hilde.”

“Brunhilde?”

“Yes. Why, are nicknames illegal in Florida?”

Leah immediately spoke up. “Well! Like you can see, everyone’s all accounted for.”

The Sheriff was glaring at Senine. He did not look at Leah when he said, “Just stay out of trouble. We have a nice, quiet town, except for the occasional rowdy college student.” The sheriff then handed the forms back, turned, and walked back to his car.

“That was...really, really weird.” June said once his door closed and the window was rolled up. “Do you think there’s a kidnapper or something around here?”  
Janice immediately pulled up her phone, and started to scroll through it while the others spoke.

“Maybe?” Leah frowned, and then started driving again. “I don’t know, that doesn’t explain it. It’s like he was only interested in you kids.”

Senine scoffed.

“You’re four years younger. We aren’t arguing this again.”

“Maybe he wasn’t a cop?” Auggie said, shrugging.

“He could have done a lot worse than that.” Cassie frowned. “Perhaps he’s busy with something else? Some personal trauma?”

“...Huh.” Janice looked up from her phone and turned around in her seat. “Apparently a lot of craft stores’ve been getting hit, lately.”

“Wow.” Senine said, eyes not leaving her window. “The Kindergarteners around here do not fuck around.”

“Maybe he’s nervous about that?” Auggie offered. “If seven-year-olds can beat you at your own job, I’d be distracted, too.”

“You think we should investigate it?” Janice asked.

The others looked at each other, and then at her. “No?” Amber said. “We’re, like, not police?”

“You mean you guys don’t do that?” Janice glanced at them and saw only blank looks. “You don’t go investigating weird stuff in every town you happen to be in?”

“Not really.” June leaned back in her seat. “Honestly, since day one that I’ve been here, all the weird’s come to me.”

“And before Junie got here,” Auggie added. “Aside from the occasional diplomatic thing and evil twin attack, nothing really happened.”

Cassie nodded. “Solar City has always been, according to Mr. Vember, unusually quiet. For as long as it has been Solar City, at any rate.”

Janice seemed to deflate slightly. “But the teen detective stuff’s the best part of the job! I am all about going Velma on someone’s butt.”

“I mean.” June looked to the others, and then back at Janice. “If you want to, go ahead! We’re only here for like a week, though. Also, it’s probably just some weird-but-normal guy.”

“I can help!” Faye beamed at Janice. “Even if it is a weird-but-normal-guy, I have a really good nose! We can probably sniff whatever it is out in a second.”

“Like, I guess I can, too.” Amber sighed. “I’d love to, like, spend all my time on the beach, but I am, like, way too pale for that.”

June stared at her.

“Oh, like, come on! I still burn, like, you’re not special because you burn more.”

“I burn thinking about the sun!”

“It’s not, like, a contest?”

Faye wrapped her arms around June. “Junie, you could help us! If you need less sun!”

“...Okay, fine. It might even be fun!” June smiled. “Low stress--no huge army trying to steal my star, just a weird craft-loving maybe normal human.”

 

********

 

When she dreamt, she dreamt of a world she could barely remember. She dreamt of bright green skies and tall, magenta trees with black bark. She dreamt of a girl, a girl with greenish skin and bright eyes who always had a smile. She dreamt of a girl whose star whispered to her the attractions and attitudes and connections between people.

 

She dreamt of an angry woman with fire in her eyes who condemned this girl for spying on her, and of this girl not being able to articulate how she knew what she knew. She dreamt of the girl being cast out from her village, of being sent into the forest, to live her life among the beasts, and to die to their hungry jaws. She dreamt of the girl falling to despair, broken, desperate, and alone.

But, out of all of it, the most clear part of it by far, she dreamt of the voice, soft and pleasant and deep and resonant, a voice that was not sound but echoed through her mind, a voice she felt rather than heard.

_**“Beautiful girl. Lovely, perfect girl. Beautiful in my image. Would you like to do something with those strings?** _

_**“Know me, and I will always be with you.** _

_**“Worship me, and I will be your savior.** _

_**“Fill yourself with me, and I will be your power.** _

_**“Say yes, and I shall never leave you.** _

_**“Say my name, and become me.”** _

And she did.

 

The Puppetrix awoke from her spot, under a pile of fabric and needles, to the sound of a human communicator chirping for her. She was in a nearly pitch-black room, the sparse light coming from boarded-up windows only vaguely illuminating a row of dress forms. She reached out with a long, spindly arm, and took the radio, pulling it into her nest.

“Speak, my puppet.” Her voice was discordant to human ears, sing-song but grating and sharp.

“Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am. They’re here--everyone but the boy.”

The Puppetrix idly twisted a hand on a string that was not there. There was a pained intake of breath on the other end of the radio. “Where is he? Octavian.”

“Back in Solar City, I think. Said he was doin’ Shakespeare in the park.”

She released the line, and could hear a relieved sigh from Sheriff Mills. “But June is there. And Amber. And Senine.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Have you found our little playmate, yet? She’s so good at hiding.”

“Not yet, ma’am. Carl got close to her, but she bashed him away. Broke his damn arm.”

“I’m sorry?” The Puppetrix said with a taunting voice. “Did you say arm? Or neck?”

“Arm! Arm arm oh God, arm.” Sheriff Mills replied with a voice of frenzied panic. “Please, ma’am, I said arm.”

“Oh, alright. Do not worry, my puppet. Your panic was enough. You care very much for your deputy. The strings that bond you are true and strong. I would not cut them without due cause.” The Puppetrix sighed fondly. “How much did it hurt, in the moment you thought he would die? Would you cry if he did? I know your people have a stigma for men to cry, especially those in power.”

“Yes, ma’am. I would cry.”

“Oh, puppet, then he is safer than any other on this planet. I will not allow him to die, until I can watch you watch him die. I would not waste such a rare treasure as your tears. Find where they are staying. They are more important than our playmate--only when you know where they rest are you to collect her for our tea party.”

 

*******

 

Cassie’s parents’ beach house had a large central room that was part kitchen, part living room, and part dining room, as well as three bedrooms. It was right on the beach, just as advertised, resting on short stilts to keep it safe from the ocean beyond.

They had barely gotten in the door and Auggie was already in her blue one-piece swimsuit, and was in the process of blowing up a beach ball.

“How do your parents fit six kids here?” June glanced in the bedrooms.

“Typically, with some difficulty.” Cassie sighed. “Usually, the girls are in one room and the boys in another.”

“I call one room to myself.” Senine said, pushing past them and sitting on the spacious bed inside.

“Vetoed!” Leah called from the kitchen, where she was putting away a few groceries.

“Lame.”

“I am sure,” Cassie began as she pulled her skirted two-piece from her bag, “that we will migrate to one place or another, if we make it as far as a bed and do not simply collapse on the couches and chairs.”

“Four in one room sounds harsh.” June put her stuff down in the same room that Senine had called, with Faye following her.

“I typically have slept on the couch.” Cassie said dismally. “And Gemini would fall asleep on my head at some point over the night like a ninety pound cat.”

“Good thing you have a mansion, Cass!” Auggie grinned at her. “Otherwise you might have to share all the time!”

Cassie pouted at her best friend. “I do not have a mansion! Besides, Janice does not live terribly far away from me, and I see no one mocking her mother’s choice of house!”

“It’s not a mansion. Like, for real.” Janice stepped out of the bathroom in a red swimsuit. “Also, we might move, because our neighbors gave us the ‘Oh, our new neighbors aren’t white’ look.”

“My mom used to get that look.” June replied. “But it came with a dash of ‘is she a terrorist???’ panic.”

“What’s the ‘neighbors aren’t white’ look?” Faye asked in a confused and worried voice.

“It’s more noticeable when you’re black.” Janice sat on the arm of the couch. “It’s this startled look that’s followed by a forced smile and you can’t tell if they’re just surprised and they realized they were just kinda racist or if they’re gonna start carrying a gun every time they leave the house.”

Faye’s eyes widened. “People DO that?”

Amber very suddenly hugged Faye. “Like, never change.”

“Guys!” Auggie pointed to the back door. “Look! The ocean! Come on!”

Amber sighed. “I guess I’ll start slathering on sunscreen.”

“And I’ll find my parasol.” June started to unpack. Senine was still on the bed, but now she had her phone out.

“You aren’t swimming, Junie?” Faye asked after Amber let her go.

“I actually am not allowed to swim outdoors, even with sunscreen.” June shrugged. “I have way too high a sunburn and skin cancer risk. Plus, I need to have my sunglasses on at all times--if they fall off and I see the light reflecting off the sand and water, my eyes could really get hurt.”

“I could heal you, you know.” Cassie stepped out of the bedroom in her swimsuit.

“Yeah, but it’ll still hurt. I’ll just watch you guys! It’ll be fine.”

Faye looked at Senine. “You should come swim, too!”

“Naw.” Senine replied. “I’m busy being a teenager. I’ll join you later, after I brag to Jordy about how great this place is and how much of a loser he is for not being here.”

“So...” Auggie began. “You’re going to postpone having fun, to brag about having fun.”

“Pretty much. It’ll happen to you, one day.”

June got a blanket, her parasol, and a book. “Okay! I’m all set!”

Leah stepped up beside them, dressed in a bikini. “Okay, girls, let’s go!”

“Seriously, Leah.” Augusta said as they left. “No pants is a great look on you.”

“Oh, like, is it?” Amber, who was now in a red two-piece, gave her a soft glare.

Auggie sighed and put an arm around Amber’s waist, before giving her a kiss on the forehead. “It’s a good look for you, too. You just don’t have a grown-up-butt yet.”

Everyone was staring at the two of them. Amber and Auggie’s eyes widened, their cheeks reddened, and they immediately pulled apart. “You look great too, Cassie!” Auggie said, and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “And you too, Faye!”

Amber looked like she wanted to fall into a hole.

“And June! You don’t have a butt.”

“....Ouch. True, but ouch.”

Auggie stopped at Janice. “I don’t know you well enough for this but you are also pretty.”

“I’ll accept that without the kiss.”

As they walked out, Janice pulled Cassie aside. “So we’re just supposed to pretend like we didn’t see that, right?”

Cassie nodded. “Most likely until the end of days.”

“Right.” Janice nodded back. “Got it.”

 

Eventually, Senine came out in a purple one-piece and joined the festivities. June was still under her parasol, huddled up within the shade with her book. The ball never seemed to get used--at least, June never saw it move, she just noticed, after looking up, that it was in a different location.

More than once, a fin crested the water, but every time, it belonged to Faye--once while she was in the form of an actual shark. Janice came by June an hour into beach fun time and started on a sand castle. As the sun started to set, it was bigger than her and covered in fine, intricate details--impressive enough that some of the normal neighbors from other beach houses came to look at it. Cassie also retired to the blankets before the end of the day, and with her was a bucket full of seashells--some of which were used as adornments on Castle Janice.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Senine retired on her own blanket, with her own umbrella. Amber joined her on it before long, though she spent a very long time watching a certain blue-haired girl frolic.

When night came closer, and the waves got choppier, Leah went to the edge of the surf with a yellow and white surfboard.

She fell off about half the time, but she never stopped being excited about riding it. In about an hour, she came back to shore looking a little battered and a little bruised but also exceptionally pleased with herself.

It was night, and Leah had moved inside to order some food. Faye and Auggie were the only ones to remain in the water all day, and only came out of the water when the back porch light came on, and Faye’s nose caught the distinct smell of pizza from inside.

“Did you guys have fun?” June asked, stepping out from under her umbrella for the first time. Her legs, shoulders, and nose were still pink, despite not being in direct sunlight at any point.

“Yes!” Faye gave June a huge, wet, sandy hug. Her cool, wet suit and skin made June’s mild burns feel better. “But I’m so hungry I could eat a seal! Even if they are really really cute.”

“That’s my ocean now, by the way.” Auggie grinned at Cassie and Amber. “Faye agreed to cede it to me.”

“Is it truly?” Cassie smiled up at her best friend. “I imagine that I have free passage in your kingdom.”

“I guess.” Auggie winked at her.

“I’m not playing along.” Amber stood and started for the house. “That’s, like, kid stuff.”

“Oh my God you are so boring!” Auggie called after her.

Janice sighed at her castle. “I just know it’s gonna be gone by morning.”

June patted her on the back. “You’ll just have to make it even better, right?”

She grinned at June and nodded. “Right. Assuming we’re not sleuthing by then.”

They all filed inside the house, leaving the beach with the fires up and down it.

None of them saw a dark figure slip down the slope and approach the castle below. She had a brown hat, pulled low over her dark eyes, and a coat pulled tight around her, an oddity in the muggy Florida night air.

She glanced towards the open back door, and then looked back towards the castle. She raised her hand, and, behind her, a large wave rose in the surf.

 

“So, I know this is a little bit of a weird question, but is anyone on this team straight?” 

In response to Janice’s question, all of the assembled girls looked at each other. Amber slowly started to raise her hand, but Faye gently took her wrist, smiled at her, and slowly lowered the hand. Amber sighed, but did not resist.

“I’m not exactly on the team,” Leah said as she downed a slice of cheese pizza. “But I’m mostly straight.”

“I’m like, two thirds straight.” Janice replied. “So I get that.”

Auggie shrugged. “I used to think I was? But I like who I like, I don’t really put a whole lot of thought into it.”

Amber was now looking at the table and blushing. Faye patted her gently on the back.

“So, no.” Senine said. “None of us is straight. Not even Gemini or Octy.”

“That seems to be the case.” Janice shrugged. “I’ve met a lot more teams and they’re like eighty percent queer girls.”

“Like...why?” Amber looked up from being mortified. “Why are we all, like, girls, except for Auggie’s brother, and, like, all at least, like, kinda gay?”

“I have no idea, but it’s apparently really common where Vember’s from, too.” Senine shrugged. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Where’s Mr. Vember from?” June asked.

“Space.”

June, Amber, and Faye all suddenly looked very shocked. “Mr. Vember’s an alien???” June looked over at Leah, who had a good-natured, patient smile.

“No, sweetie. He’s from a Stellar Ranger base in space. He’s only alien in that he’s not a natural born resident of this country. He, and I, are one hundred percent human.” Leah helped herself to another slice. “As for why most people with power stars are female, no one’s really sure. It’s mostly only true to this degree in our part of the Galaxy.”

Janice looked past the others, and behind Senine, who she was across from. “Huh, wonder if someone lost their cat.”

Everyone turned to look at what she had referred to and saw the beam of a flashlight pass the far window. June could see, through the cracks in the curtain, the light of the beam sweep through the darkness, and then turn away. 

“Huh.” Leah stood and walked to the window, holding a hand back to keep the others sitting. Senine was not obeying it, and followed along behind her.

“It looks like there’s a police car out there.” Leah frowned. “I think...it’s the sheriff from earlier.”

Senine pushed her head to the window from next to Leah, earning her a deeper, more disapproving frown. “That’s him, alright. He’s driving away.”

“....That’s...kind of weird and creepy.” June looked to everyone else, and could tell from their expressions that it was a shared sentiment.

“...Maybe we should look for clues?” Janice said with a sheepish smile.

“I could sniff around!” Faye said with a mouth full of pizza.

“Heck yeah! I thrive on creepy and weird. Let’s pull this old man’s mask the heck off!”

“Slow down a sec, girls.” Leah stepped back to the dining room table. “This isn’t a magic thing as far as we know. This is a cop acting erratically. Cops acting erratically shoot people for no reason.”

“Bullets are, like, made of metal.” Amber said, rolling her eyes.

“Yes, they are, and if you know exactly when they’re going to be fired, maybe you could stop one with your powers. But if he shoots when you’re not looking....” Leah sighed. “Just be careful, okay?”

“We will be.” June stood up and smiled at Leah. “We did beat a legendary Ranger a few months ago, after all. Plus, he left, right Senine?” 

Senine returned to the table and nodded. “He’s long gone by now.”

“Right.” She turned to her friends. “Come on, gang, let’s do some night-time investigation!”

The girls got up and started to the back door. They paused once they got on the porch and stared out onto the sand with almost universally startled expressions.  
Though it looked as though the water had dug especially deep furrows into the wet sand in front of Janice’s castle, the fact that the furrows spelled “YOU ARE IN DANGER” and ended in what looked to be the outline of a mermaid indicated that it was probably not a natural occurrence.

“Oh, gee.” Senine said in her most deadpan voice. “I wonder if this is a clue.”

Janice immediately rushed down to the sand, and Faye was right behind her. “Wow, whoever did this didn’t even hurt my castle.”

“An impressive amount of control.” Cassie followed behind, a bit slower. “Maybe a veteran?”

Faye got on all fours and started sniffing the air. “It’s...a girl. I think about our age. She smells like....ocean and fear.”

“To be fair,” Auggie glanced at Cassie, “that doesn’t mean she’s not a veteran.”

June was wandering to the side of the house they had seen the flashlight from. As she did this, Faye followed to trail over to her, nose still going.

“So she came over here?” June asked. Faye nodded.

“Yeah, she was here, and then the Sheriff got closer, and she ran...” Faye turned around and sniffed some more. “...into the ocean. I could follow her if I was a shark, but being a shark’s...weird. I might get lost, and I couldn’t really bring you guys with me.”

June patted her on the back. “That’s okay, sweetie, you did great.”

“Really?!” Faye beamed, and clapped her hands together. 

She could not help but to smile in reply. “Really.”

“But like...the back door was open.” Amber frowned. “Like, why wouldn’t she just, like, come inside? Tell us directly?”

Auggie shrugged. “Maybe she’s not sure we’re not jerks, too? We have no idea who wants to hurt us or what the cop’s deal is.”

“Safe to assume they’re related.” Senine knelt down by the mermaid indentation. “Maybe the sheriff’s a pod person or a doppleganger or something. That might explain why he’s so fucked in the head. “

“I would almost suggest he was acting puppet-like.” Cassie said, turning to the others. “But he’s not. You were all much less...independent when the Puppetrix had you.”

“And the fact that she’s dead, right?” Auggie looked to the others.

“Sorry, Sparky.” Senine replied. “But I’m pretty sure I overheard her say something about puppets all the way down.”

“Yeah.” June was now leaning against Faye. “She did. but I’m not sure what that meant with the whole flaming feedback thing I did to her. I might’ve burned her directly.”

Auggie nodded. “Plus, you’d think we would’ve heard from her in the past five months.”

Senine thought about it for a few seconds. “Still, we should keep in mind that it could be her, somehow. She’s someone we know that can make people act weird, and she’d be gunning for us, specifically, for wrecking her shit.”

“Hopefully it’s not a Star Vampire.” Janice chimed in. All of the others looked at her, at that. Faye, Cassie, Auggie, and Amber suddenly felt both guilty and nervous, though they did not understand why, or recognize that they felt such.

“A what?” June asked.

“A fairy tale.” Senine rolled her eyes. “Some big bad monster from Beyond the Night that eats stars and star hearts alike. They’re shapeshifters and have mind control and they’re also really strong in battle--supposedly, any star they eat, they can replicate. Basically? If you can think of a super broken power to give a bad guy, chances are that Star Vampires have it.”

“What’s ‘Beyond the Night’ even mean?”

Senine suddenly stopped smiling. “That’s...less of a fairy tale. It’s whatever’s past where light touches. Past the edges of the universe, where light can’t--or won’t--go.” She got a weak smirk and waved her hand. “It’s not important--first thing’s first, we need to get some rest. Jan, you might want to take a look at that fabric store theft in the morning---it’s a weird thing, maybe it’s connected. Maybe it isn’t, but if the cop’s following us, splitting up might be able to make us get a better idea of who he’s following.”

Leah frowned. “I don’t like it. I can’t watch you girls if you’re splitting up.”

“You don’t have powers you can access.” Senine patted her on the shoulder. “Honestly, you’re in the most danger of all of us.”

Leah’s frown turned into an annoyed pout. “Just be careful. I need you to go with them on sleuthing, Senine, I’ll watch things here. Now let’s get back inside and have some sleep.”

The girls did just that, though it took them a while to get to sleep. In the end, they did not even make it to the bed, and merely collapsed at various points in the living room.

 

*****

 

When the Puppetrix daydreamed, sometimes, she remembered a boy.

She did not know what importance this boy had--whether he was a friend or a brother or anything else had been lost, somewhere, in the grey fog of her mind. She remembered moving through the forest with him, running in the magenta grass, falling and rolling and playing and being children.

She remembered him refusing to meet her gaze, when she was called a witch, a spy, a monster. 

She remembered the way his body hung, limp and lifeless, from strings wound from their own mutual attachment.

The Puppetrix moved in the dark, every arm moving rapidly, stitching at a pace that would be impossible even for a machine. She barely even paused when the radio chirped at her, merely stopping long enough for one arm to put down its needle and retrieve it.

“Yes, my puppet?”

The sheriff’s voice came through. “The vagrant, ma’am. She’s tryin’ to make contact with the Rangers.”

“Oh.” She paused. That won’t do. If you see her about to warn them of my presence, kill her. I’ll be sad to miss her presence at tea, but it’s better to be careful. And bring me more of those flowers, if you could. Everything needs to be just right for the party.”

 

******

 

June woke up first, for what was possibly the first time in her life, solely because her bladder insisted on it. She was on one end of the couch, half sitting and half draped over the arm. Faye was laying partially on her, with her head in June’s lap. Amber was also sort of laying on her, in that she had fallen asleep and slowly slumped onto Faye. Compounding this, Auggie and Cassie, at the other end of the couch, were sleeping on Amber. Meanwhile, Janice was asleep on the arm next to Auggie and Cassie, with her back pressed against Cassie’s shoulder.

June tried to ease out from under Faye. Faye, in response, gave a slight, low growl and shifted her weight to press down harder on June. She smiled slightly, and wound a length of curly blonde hair around her finger.

“You’re lucky I can hold it for a bit.” She said softly. June started to pet her girlfriend, which made her smile in her sleep and her leg twitch just slightly.

She was not sure why she looked up, towards the back door. June just knew that when she did, she was instantly startled to see a girl, standing there, staring back at her, just as startled. Nearly black eyes locked with hers from within an olive-skinned face. Messy, sea-green hair peaked out from under a pageboy cap.

The two locked eyes for several seconds before the other girl took a step back, turned, and bolted towards the coast. June immediately stood up, jostling Faye enough to wake her and, in turn, starting a chain reaction that started to rouse everyone else, which went even faster when June shouted, “Hey, wait a second!”  
June sprinted out of the house in her pajamas, hitting the back porch just in time to see the girl, standing at the edge of the surf. Her billowing coat was silhouetted in the orange dawn behind her, which was visible through the many holes in it.

“Just...wait! It’s okay, we won’t hurt you.” She stumbled down to the sand. “Please, it’s okay. My name’s June.”

The other girl stared at June, and then a huge wave lifted up behind her. Before the others could join June outside, it swept down over the mystery girl, and pulled her into the sea.

“No, wait!’ June rushed to the edge of the surf. “You don’t need to be afraid of us! We’re good people! We can help!”

There was no sign of her as the others ran down to June. Senine was one of the first there, still in a long nightshirt. “Was that her?”

“I think so.” June frowned. “She was on the back porch, just watching us, I think.”

“That’s, like, kinda creepy.” Amber glanced to the others.

“Perhaps she does not know if she can trust us, yet.” Cassie said, frowning. “Or perhaps she has not yet seen evidence that we have powers.”

Janice looked contemplative. “Maybe she thinks we might be connected with the cop? She did run into him, here.”

“Well, we kinda are, but not in a way that’s good for us.” Auggie sighed. “Hey, Faye-Faye, think you can track her?”

Faye nodded. “But it’s like yesterday, it’d just be me.”

“And she could be dangerous.” Senine looked out into the water, and back to her team. “Okay, we’re awake. We need to wake up Leah and get her to make us omelettes. Then we go be Jr. detectives and maybe beat up some possessed pod people robot clone cops.”

The others shuffled inside, but June remained outside, still looking out to where the mystery girl had been. After a while, Janice came outside and gave her a little wave.

“Hey, the girls are probably gonna eat every egg in Florida if you’re not fast.”

“Oh!” June smiled at her. “Yeah, I’ll be in in a sec.”

“So, is there something up?” She stepped beside her. “You need me to get Auggie or Faye or something?”

“No, it’s...maybe she just doesn’t know how to talk to us? Maybe she’s just lonely and awkward.” June looked over at Janice. “Her clothing was a bit tattered and worn. I think she’s probably homeless. I just...I remember, before the Rangers contacted my brother, feeling like I was the only one with powers.” She turned back to the ocean. “We were even homeless for a couple weeks, while our relatives tried to guilt each other into taking my brother and I.”

“Parents not too popular or something?”

“Mom’s family, except for Grandma and Grampa, never really forgave her for marrying an American, Dad’s family never really forgave him for marrying a Middle Eastern lady.” She glanced over at Janice. “Plus, half of Mom’s family is still in Iran, and us going back there would kind of gone against the point of Mom and her parents leaving in the first place.”

“Sooooo...it’s sorta in my nature to be nosy...”

June laughed. “My Mom and her parents were Baha’is. It’s...not great to be a Baha’i in Iran.”

“That...sounds bad and also like something I should wiki later.”

June turned back towards the house. “After breakfast, obviously.”

“You think I can’t multitask? During.”

 

****

 

It was early afternoon when June, Janice, Faye, Amber, and Senine found themselves at Mega Craft, a store that sold, among other things, fabric, arts and crafts, and scrapbooking materials. The sky had gone overcast, and the air was thick with the promise of a subtropical downpour.

“I am going to lose like fifteen cool points, just walking in this place.” Senine frowned, and then sighed, very reluctantly stepping through the automatic door. “You’re the one with sleuthing experience, Rockette, how’re we doing this?”

“Well, first,” Janice walked inside as well. “We find someone who works here--like a normal worker, not a manager or anything, and ask them what happened. Also just kinda generally look around for clues. You usually know clues when you see them.”

“I’ll sniff around for anything weird!” Faye squeezed June’s hand. “You want to come with me?”

“Uh. Sure!” June blushed. “I can at least give moral support.”

“Me and Amber can interrogate the employees.” Janice glanced over at her. “Right?”

“Yeah, sure, like, whatever.”

Senine immediately brightened up. “In that case, I’ll stay out front and be a bad influence while I keep an eye out for that cop.”

Amber looked at her. “No fair! Like, why do you get to do nothing?”

“‘Cause I called it first, and because I’m in charge.” Senine stuck out her tongue. “Better luck next time, Red.”

 

Back at the beach house, Cassie and Auggie sat at the table. Cassie was staring intently at a hand of playing cards, while Auggie had just four she was casually glancing at.

“This is a game of random chance.” Cassie said in a flustered voice. “There is little to no strategy involved.”

“Got any twos?” 

“Ha!” Cassie put down her cards and pointed. “Ha! I have no twos! Go fish!”

“Okay!” Auggie pulled a card off the top of the pile. She then put four twos down.

Cassie stared at the table, mouth agape. “How...I...but...”

Auggie smiled at her best friend. “It’s your turn!”

“Do...you have any--” Before Cassie could finish, Auggie handed her her card.

“Sixes, right?”

Cassie glared at her best friend and snatched the card. “How do you do this?”

“There’s a little strategy. But don’t worry, we still have, like, all of your cards to sort out!”

Leah came inside, from the front door. She had an armful of groceries, and what looked to be an envelope that had been dabbed with glue and then dipped in several vats worth of glitter, enough that she left a small trail of it behind her.

“Any word from any of the others while I was out?” Leah set the groceries down on the counter.

“Nope! Also, we weren’t murdered by police.” Auggie drew a card, and then smiled. “Got any Kings?”

“I...Yes.” Cassie grumbled, and handed Auggie three cards. “As you well knew.”

Leah held up the glittery envelope and frowned. She opened it immediately, and removed the letter inside. 

“What’s that?” Auggie asked, not even looking at her own cards, or the glare her best friend was giving her.

“...Something weird.” Leah handed it to Auggie. “We need to message the others, this could be related to all of the stuff that’s been happening.”

Auggie looked at the letter and blinked. “A...tea party? If someone’s going to be weird and send cops after us, why a tea party?”

Cassie frowned, and took the page. “I doubt our mystery friend from the beach would be this forward.”

Leah looked up from her phone. “It looks like that address is a warehouse. I’m not sure who owns it, or if it’s in use.”

“Should we go check it out?” Auggie asked. Leah shook her head.

“No, we have a couple hours until they want us there. We should get the others and regroup, first.” Leah gently took the page back, and read over it.

_‘You are cordially invited to a tea party, hosted by a humble friend. All refreshments will be provided. I do hope to see you there--it would be such a shame for me to have all this tea to myself._

_Signed,_

_Your friend._

_P.S. Guests are encouraged and welcome’_

 

Senine stood outside the craft store, leaning against the wall, and internally debating the risk vs. reward of lighting a cigarette. The sky overhead had gotten darker and darker, and a few drops of rain speckled the sidewalk. 

She glanced up, and saw a girl in a cap and coat staring at her from the mouth of an alley, at the far end of the store.

“You know,” Senine said, pushing herself up from the wall. “You running basically just wastes all of our time.”

She took a step back.

“I know I’m intimidatingly hot.” Senine started towards the mystery girl. “But running away’s not going to get us anywhere.”

The girl turned and started to run. Senine slipped her badge on, and then leapt directly up.

 

“Any luck?” June asked when the four girls met back up.

“A little.” Janice said, gesturing to the fabric section, where they currently were. “Apparently, someone managed to open the locks on the loading bay door and nearly cleaned them out of fabric and sewing supplies, as well as sequins and glitter and fabric glue.”

“They, like, took a lot of notions, too.” Amber rolled her eyes. “I am so glad that, like, Auggie’s not here to make a dumb joke about that.”

“We found stuff, too!” Faye beamed. “It’s not much, but the Sheriff’s scent is all over this place.”

“He was probably here to investigate the crime.” June added. “Or, at least, that’s what I thought at first. Apparently, he’s been here more than just a couple times. If he is involved in the investigation, he’s obsessed with it. Or, he was involved somehow.”

“Like, but...” Amber frowned. “Why would a possessed or whatever sheriff steal some, like, dumb arts and crafts?”

“There’s something really weird, here.” June glanced at her phone as it buzzed. “....And, to make it even weirder, we’ve been invited to a tea party at a warehouse.”

“....A what?” Amber asked. June showed her the phone.

“Oh, neat!” Faye said, and then paused. “Wait. Probably bad and not neat.”

“Let’s show Senine.” June put her phone back in her purse. “Whatever’s going on, we need to plan before it happens.”

 

The mystery girl bolted down the alley, stopping when she reached the first intersection to look over her shoulder. When she did not see Senine behind her, she visibly relaxed, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Above her, Senine dropped from the adjacent roof, floating slowly and silently down onto the alleyway floor. “Boo.”

The girl leapt into the air and spun around to face Senine. Senine gave her a smirk and a small wave.

“So, are you going to try to run some more, or are you finally going to tell us what your deal is?”

She looked around and took a step back. “Are you with her?”

“Her. You’re going to have to narrow it down.” Senine made no move to close the distance between them. “I know a lot of ‘hers’.”

“The spider lady. The one who has the sheriff.” There was an edge of panic in her voice. “Are you with her? Does she have you, too?”

“Spider...wait. Bad fashion sense? Grabs things that aren’t there and loops them over people?”

The mystery girl narrowed her eyes. There was now a curved sword with a sea-green blade and a black basket hilt in her hand.

Senine did not summon her hammer. “Easy. I recognize her because she’s me and my friends’ enemy.”

She lowered the blade slightly. “How can I know that you are not tricking me?”

“You can’t, but I’m not. Something both bad and weird is going on here, and I think you know more about it than we do.” Senine extended her hand. “I’m Senine, a Stellar Ranger. I don’t know if you know what that is, but we use our powers to fight things like the spider lady. Also, please don’t stab my friends. One of them is my adoptive sister and I think our guardian would frown on her getting stabbed on my watch.”

She looked over her shoulder, and saw June, Faye, Janice, and Amber. She immediately backed towards another avenue of the intersection.

“They’re cool. Relax. We can help you.” Senine withdrew her hand, but also stepped slightly closer.

June and the others hit the intersection. June was already slightly out of breath. Overhead, a downpour began, dropping thick curtains of tropical rain down on the group.

There was a dome of clear air, however, around the mystery girl. After a moment, it grew, to contain all six of them.

“Alright, cool, we’re being friendly. So. What’s going on?” Senine glanced at both her friends and the mystery girl.

“Cops cars are circling the lot.” June replied. “I don’t think they saw us, but they might show up at any time. We need to get out of here.”

As soon as she said that, red and blue flashed in the storm in all directions. The clouds overhead rumbled as doors opened, and out stepped a dozen members of the Red Beach police force, boxing them in from all directions, with Sheriff Mills among them.

Amber’s fists tightened. Senine took a step back, standing between the police on her side and the mystery girl. Faye went low to the ground, and June had both her knives out. Janice held her black, glowing mace with both hands, and when raindrops hit it, steam poured off of it.

“Now you ladies step on back.” Said Sheriff Mills, completely unfazed by the sudden and obvious use of magic. “This girl’s a wanted fugitive.”

“I wonder if you’d be saying that if the Puppetrix’s hand wasn’t shoved up your ass.” Senine was now holding the Pulsar Sledge.

“Puppetrix?!” June glanced back at Senine.

“Yep.”

“Fuck.”

“Yep.”

The Sheriff lifted his pistol at the new girl and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened, except for her lifting her arms in front of her. Large waves of water suddenly coalesced around her and then shot out in all directions, somehow avoiding the Rangers and sweeping only into the police, knocking them all away.

Senine grabbed her by the arm and ran, with the others tailing behind them. The police that could stand after being tossed by the surf were hindered by the downpour that was, once again, still avoiding the girls, and also the fact that none of their guns seemed to be firing, and the keys in the ignition would not turn.

 

They ran all the way back to the beach house, where Leah was pacing back and forth in the main room, and Auggie and Cassie were halfway through a game of war. The downpour had passed almost as soon as it had come, and the sunshine that gave the state its name was once again out in full force.

“Oh, thank pretty much every god that you’re all okay.” Leah immediately hugged Faye and Senine. “What happened? Are you okay? Who’s this, and...June, do you need water?”

Everyone else was fine, if sweating and breathing a bit harder than normal. June was doubled over, cradling her midsection, and wheezing.

“You are seriously out of shape.” Auggie called. June nodded, both to that assertion and to the desire for water.

“...My name is Avril.” The new girl said, as Leah got her a glass of water. “I am homeless, and have recently come to Red Beach to avoid another Northeastern winter on the street.” She was looking down, at the floor. “A few weeks ago, something distressing started to happen. People, especially the police, began to act strangely. And then I found the spider woman, this Puppetrix.” Avril’s hands balled up into fists. “She tried to take me, but she was not ready for my power. The Sheriff arrived, then, and she took him. She told him that a group of girls was coming, and that he would prepare them for a party. I have been following him, to warn them. You, I suppose.”

“She doesn’t have any strings.” June said, after downing half a pitcher of water both down her throat and over her head. “I don’t think so, anyway.”

“Like, if you can detect those, why didn’t you, like, see them on the Sheriff?” Amber asked from where she had sat--right next to Amber, for some reason.

“It’s hard to see them, unless you know you’re looking for them. I had no reason to suspect him, and it seems like strings are a little less vibrant on people who don’t have power stars.” June shrugged. “I honestly don’t even know how I do any of this stuff where I see stuff like that, but I can sense it, and she doesn’t have them.”

“So, other people,” Avril looked to everyone, “they also have powers? Like mine?”

“Yep.” Leah stepped in, now. “Everyone’s tied to a star, and sometimes, that star gives people magic--the connection is called a Star Heart, and it’s roughly equivalent, if not directly connected to, the ‘soul’. Everyone here has one, but mine’s not active. We’re part of a group called the Stellar Rangers, who keep things like the Puppetrix from hurting people.”

“....Hm.” Avril looked down at her own hands, and then back up at the group. “You are going to stop her?”

“It is our job, after all.” Cassie said.

“Plus, we all owe her a beating!” Auggie chimed in. “She’s controlled everyone here, except for Leah.”

“...I want to help.” Avril’s fists tightened. “I’m not a Ranger, but I know my power, and I’m good at fighting.”

Leah sighed. “I can’t really let you do that....but, I also can’t stop you, because you’re not part of our group. Just stay back and try not to get in too much danger. The Puppetrix is a dangerous and unpredictable enemy.”

Auggie added, “Also, if Junie gets all black-and-white-glowy, don’t stand in front of her.”

“Okay, girls, we can brief the new girl on more things on our way there.” Senine walked towards the front door, adjusting her badge in the process. “Let’s go crash a tea party.”

 

The warehouse was decorated with paper chains and streamers. A large, glittery banner made from craft glue and glitter hung from over the main doors that read, in big, cheerful letters, _“WELCOME STELLAR RANGERS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JUNE!”_

“Wait, Junie.” Auggie glanced over at her. “It’s your birthday...like, tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.” June felt the beat of the Penumbra in her chest. 

The front door opened on its own. revealing a darkened room beyond.

“...Well!” Cassie glanced at her friends. “I suppose we’ve been invited in.”

Senine summoned her hammer. “You know, I really don’t want to just charge into this trap.” She pointed it ahead of her, and then pulled it back. “Everyone stand back for a sec.”

Senine lifted her hammer up, and the head began to glow purple, before deepening to black. “Hammer of the dying star, give me the power to destroy my enemies! Dead Star Smash!” She pulled it back, and smashed the hammer into the air in front of her.

There was a brief pause, and then the entire front wall of the warehouse smashed inward, and then started to crumble and fall inward.

Avril’s mouth gaped open. Auggie nudged her. “Yeah, that’s Senine for you! She’s about as strong as she is obnoxious.”

“I resent that.” Senine rested her sledge over her shoulder. “I am way more obnoxious than that.” There was now a gaping hole in the front of the warehouse.

Inside, the girls could see , in the dim light straining from outside, that the inside of the warehouse was full of row after row of mannequins--each one posed with its arms outstretched, holding a mannequin’s cross. Each was also dressed in a brightly colored suit made out of different, contrasting patterns of random patches of fabric. In the very back of the warehouse, they could see a single light, shining from a swinging lamp overhead.

Janice lifted her foot, and then slammed it down. A rumbling shot through the earth, shaking everything, but particularly the floor in front of them. The mannequins swayed, and then fell--sometimes onto their sides, and sometimes in rows, like dominoes. 

Under the light, which was once again swaying, was a small table, with what looked to be a vase of flowers and a teapot on it. It was surrounded by dress forms, all of which were currently naked.

“How does she keep making thus even more unsettling?” June shuddered. “I thought the mannequins were bad.”

“Corpses don’t bother you.” Auggie said blandly. “But tea parties, that’s where you draw the line.”

“Shut up.” June stepped up to the hole and peered inside. “I...hm. There’s something weird here...well, something ELSE weird. I can sort of sense her but...it’s basically everywhere. But I’m not picking up any strings.”

“I kind of want to just burn this place to the ground.” Senine walked up next to June. “Or get Janice to pull it into a molten sinkhole.”

“Me, too.” June said. “Or Riot it.”

“Oh,” Auggie poked Avril again. “Definitely don’t stand in front of Junie if she’s glowy AND playing the guitar.”

“I...okay?”

June sighed. “I think we should just go for it and look at the trap.”

“So, just so we’re clear.” Janice looked to everyone else. “We’re all ready for when those mannequins attack us, right?”

There were general sounds of assent from everyone around her.

“Okay, good, let’s go.”

The Rangers (and Avril) moved through the toppled mannequins, each with their weapon summoned, and each keeping their eyes on the figures around them. Though they were very unsettling, none of them moved, and they reached the table unmolested.

There was a patchwork tablecloth over the small, round table. Resting on it was a simple, white teapot, along with a matched pair of saucers and teacups. Sitting in the vase was a bouquet of blue flowers, which had oddly pointed petals, arranged in a way that was unfamiliar to most present.

“That’s...odd.” Cassie investigated the flowers. “I admit that I am just a junior high student and not a professional botanist, but I don’t recognize this species.” She took a closer look, and frowned. “Someone has...cut, painted, and glued what I think was once a peony, to look like...this.”

June’s head pounded. She could not look away from the flowers.

“Does your heart know them, beautiful, precious June?” Came a voice behind them. Everyone but her turned, but did not see anyone there.

June saw a crown of flowers like this, the same, but not some butchered peony, and faintly luminescent. She saw grey eyes, not like a person’s, like they were drained of color.

“They are my attempt to create flowers from the Edge of the Night. They’re called Blue Stars of Mourning. Does your heart recognize them? Have you seen them, upon Her brow?”

June fell to her knees. She saw things her mind did not have words for, things a human’s limited senses could not even comprehend. 

Faye was kneeling next to June and holding her, as the others formed a perimeter around her.

“Show yourself, Puppetrix.” Senine called. “It’s time we finished what you started.”

“All in time, precious Senine. So fleeting and precious, aren’t you? It’s so lovely to see you--all of you--in the flesh.”

June slowly go to her feet. Her head pounded, and her body was shaking. “What..what was it. What am I seeing?”

“Your heart remembers Her. My Mistress. It remembers when it met Her, in its original body. Before it was sundered. She who is eternal in every heart. She who is the dark that thrives even in light. She who, without her, you would not even exist. Do you remember her name?”

June shook her head. The flowers were still burned into her mind, the crown, the grey eyes. 

Someone was standing in the center of the mannequins. Her face was frozen in a twisted smile, wide and vacant like a comedy mask. Her skin was grey, and her four dark eyes glowed grey from within deep pits of her mask-like face, framed by long, stringy, grey hair. Each of her four arms ended in a set of six curved talons. The only colorful thing about her was the suit she wore, a patchwork of dozens of patches of dozens of different fabrics, discordant and loud. She also wore a tophat, with a single flower in the hat band--and, unlike the butchered peonies, this one gave the same soft, blue glow of the ones in June’s heart’s memories.

The building around them started to shake, and then the top lifted with the ease of a cardboard box’s. The sides fell away, exposing the whole of it to the light of the sun above.

“No strings, this time.” Her mouth did not move, when she spoke. It remained in its wide, open smile. “You cut them too easily. But there are many ways to control a puppet, my dear, dear friends.”

The Puppetrix held her arms up, and all of the mannequins twitched. They immediately snapped up, and crawled on their hands and feet to her, leaping onto her and forming a massive pile of plastic forms.

From the pile, a hand formed from a half-dozen mannequins. It found the floor, and pushed up an arm, which, in turn, pulled a shoulder from it, and then a chest, its body seemingly containing more mannequins than had been in the pile in the first place. 

The girls took a step back as the body before them grew larger and more formed. It was fifty feet tall, and, like the Puppetrix, had four arms. It was made of interlocking, intertwined mannequin bodies which seemed to writhe and shudder with every moment it made. In a flash of light, each of its hands now held a curved, single edged dagger built up to its scale.

“I want to thank you, Avril. My pursuit of you lead them to me like nothing else did. In truth, I wanted them to know who I was. I wanted you to tell them, and that is why I allowed you to keep your free will. The best way to ensure a something is told is to pretend it is a secret. Now, the rest of you. You defeated my doll. You destroyed my puppets.” Her voice was deceptively pleasant, even cheerful. “And you stubbornly, but understandably, refused to die. Not now.”

June started to flash black and white. Fire gathered around her chest, and she reached for it to pull it free. The Mannequin Colossus threw one of its daggers at her. Amber immediately raised her hand, and the blade slowed to a stop a few feet from impaling June. The blade winked out of existence, immediately replaced in the Mannequin Colossus’ hand.

Senine smashed her hammer into the thing’s leg. The Colossus’ leg crushed inward, and then pulled itself back into the proper place, the cracks that had formed through them sealing over as if it had never happened. Auggie blasted it with lightning, but a similar thing occurred, the molten plastic just re-formed. Cassie stayed back, unsure of what she could even do in this situation.

“Ah, yes.” The Puppetrix’s voice seemed to come from everywhere. “It’s, like, metal. How could I forget?” She banished two of her knives, and then pointed at Amber with both of her empty hands. Hundreds of lines of thread, yarn, string, twine, and hair sprung up from all around Amber and wrapped her up, entangling her and pulling her down to the floor.

June rushed to Amber and stood in front of her, having successfully changed into her Penumbra mode. Her guitar was at the ready.

“So many strings.” The Colossus took a stride towards June, ignoring the other Rangers underneath, trying--and failing--to cause any lasting damage. “You have the power of Penumbra. It’s such a pity to see it leashed such. Such a shame to see how little you can do with the power at your disposal.”

June started to play the Penumbra. Faye was climbing the back of the Colossus with her claws, making snarling noises and hacking into the plastic inside. She made no real impact in them. Janice, meanwhile, had knelt on the ground and was feeling it with one hand.

June finished her song and started to fire a blast of crackling black and white energy. However, right as it fired, the Colossus opened up its back and pulled Faye right into the direct line of fire. In a panic, June jangled the Penumbra’s strings, and the blast exploded early, sending her sprawling back into a smoldering heap.  
“June!” Senine called, and started to rush over to her. Six mannequins came free from the main body, each with four arms, and also ran for June, daggers held high. Senine smashed one with her hammer, and then another with the backswing. Faye managed to get free of the Colossus and caught a third in a flying leap, a snarl of feral rage escaping her throat.

June let out a panicked chord and blasted two more, but the last one leapt onto her and drove its knives into her arm and shoulder. She screamed in pain, and before the mannequin could hurt her further, a large wave picked it up and slammed it repeatedly into the ground.

Cassie rushed over to June, but found herself bound, much like Amber had been, and falling onto the ground mid-stride. Senine reached June, along with Faye, and helped her to her feet. She was bleeding and smoldering, though the Penumbra was still with her.

“What’s the matter, dear, sweet Cassie? Nothing living for you to manipulate? And you, June, what’s wrong? Perhaps you would like another shot.”

Janice lifted her mace. She closed her eyes, and the head began to glow brighter red, vibrating in her hand. She slammed it into the ground, hard enough that her arms shook and her teeth clattered. The concrete floor beneath the Colossus cracked, and then split open, with a molten glow beneath it. The Colossus sunk into the broken, molten earth with a sudden, alarmed cry.

“Avril!” Janice called over to her. Avril nodded, and lifted her hand, before bringing it, and a large wave, crashing down on the struggling Colossus. Steam billowed up and filled the room, along with the Puppetrix’s alarmed cries.

Avril ran over to Cassie and slit her bindings with her sword, and then did the same for Amber. Cassie immediately moved to June and started healing her.

“Are you two alright?” Auggie rushed over to Amber. 

“Like, duh? It’s just, like, string.” Amber blushed.

Janice had not stood up yet. “Wow, that...took a bit out of me.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” Senine rested her hammer over her shoulder. “But don’t relax, yet.”

A loud clacking noise came from the steam cloud, and a large shape moved in it. Senine narrowed her eyes, braced her hammer, and smashed it into the air. The steam dispersed, and as it did, a shower of knives came flying from it. 

Amber’s eyes widened, and, while the ones coming for her and Auggie were deflected by her power over metal, the rest were not. Cassie took one to the shoulder and one to her thigh, but managed to shove June out of the way of the blades before they hit her. Faye toook a cluster of three to her hip and side, and collapsed with a whimper. Senine cradled her stomach, where a hilt was protruding from it. Avril dropped her sword, where one of the knives hit her in the hand. Janice, however, was low enough that she was missed by the blades.

The steam cleared, and out of it scuttled a spider made of mannequin parts, a little less than half the size of the Colossus. Behind it was a still-glowing mass of concrete and useless plastic scrap.

The daggers all vanished. Cassie closed her eyes, and then erupted in bright green light. Every single wound the Rangers was suffering from immediately began to knit and close. The Mannequin Spider immediately charged towards Cassie. June’s wings manifested and beat, sending her into its path, and she played a single chord on her Penumbra. A shield formed for just a moment, around herself and Cassie.

The Spider smashed into it, crushing its mouth--formed of legs and arms and knives--inward. It staggered back, and its face started to reform.

All of the Rangers’ injuries were fixed, and Cassie fainted where she stood, collapsing onto the ground. Senine rushed over to her and picked her up, and then immediately jumped back when a spider leg made of torsos and heads and blades smashed down in her place. 

Avril raised both of her arms, and a column of water shot up from underneath the Mannequin Spider, knocking it off balance. Amber clenched both of her fists, and chains formed from the discarded sheetmetal ceiling of the warehouse and shot towards the spider, pulling it fully onto its side.

June started playing another song. The tuning blades once again shot out of the base of the Penumbra, and immediately began to crackle with energy. The Mannequin Spider’s joints reversed direction, and it started to push itself to its feet from the other side. 

Auggie bolted towards the spider, both batons held at her side and crackling with electricity. She slammed them into a leg and discharged lighting, the force ripping it free from the rest of its body. Hands emerged from the mass of the mannequin spider and made grabs for her, but arcing bolts of electricity melted them to plastic slag.

Senine put Cassie down next to Janice, and then turned towards the spider. She lifted both hands, and then brought them down, forcing it in place. Janice put both her hands on the concrete, and the earth shifted and shook under the spider’s legs, further keeping it from getting proper footing.  
June felt the power build up, the Riot ready to be released. “Dark Star Ri--”

The Spider burst, and in a flash, the Puppetrix was right in front of her, with a dagger aimed for her throat. June, in a panic, missed a chord.

A bright and dark flash filled the area, and June blacked out.

 

“Mistress...”

June’s head was swimming and she pushed herself to her hands. In front of her, a large furrow had been blasted into the ground. She looked to the side, and saw that Faye was already pushing herself to her feet, ignoring the way her arm hung limp at her side and the minor burns covering her.

“Mistress, grant me the power I need.”

June managed to get into a kneeling position. The Puppetrix was limping away from her. One of her arms was gone, bleeding a fluorescent grey sludge from the stump. Her three remaining arms were raised towards the sky.

“I have your enemy at hand! Give me strength, and allow me to destroy her!”

June pulled herself to her feet. She saw that the others, even Cassie, similarly standing, though Auggie was leaning heavily on Amber.

“Give up, Puppetrix.” Senine shouted while she cradled her chest. “It’s over.”

“I know you, and you will always be with me.

“I worship you, and you will be my savior.

“I fill myself with you, and you will be my power.

“I say your name.” The Puppetrix gave a shuddering cackle. “I say your name, my Mistress, and I am you.”

The sky overhead started to rumble, and then, above them, the air filled with grey light.

“My life is forfeit. My life is yours. Use me as a vessel of revenge, my mistress. Fill me with you. Fill me with Despair.”

The sky opened up like a gaping wound, and grey light surrounded the Puppetrix. Her stump began to pulse and writhe, before a new arm--long, with dark, sharp nails and smooth, pale flesh--ripped itself from the stump. The grey ooze started to pour out of her mouth and eye sockets, which were now just empty, black pits. Her back groaned as the flesh resisted it suddenly stretching, increasing the Puppetrix’s height by half again and exposing a grey-fleshed, gaunt back and stomach, both so thing that the bones were visible tight against the skin. Her existing limbs also lengthened, and her talons grew long and thin.

Her coat was a mess, now, and her suit was only tatters. The bright, mismatched colors had faded to shades of grey. The only color on her now was the flower in her hat, glowing as bright a blue as it ever had.

June reached for her guitar, and then realized she did not have it, and was not in her Penumbra form. She looked down to confirm it, and then looked up, and found she was face to face with the Puppetrix. She gave a start, and immediately stumbled back. The Puppetrix scuttled towards her, on all six limbs, turning her head to her side.

 _ **“What’s the matter, little, beautiful one?”** _ The Puppetrix’s voice resonated through the air around her. _**“Is this form not to your liking?”**_

June scrambled to her feet. She summoned her daggers, but the Puppetrix was no longer in front of her. She spun around, and saw her, only a few inches from her, staring at her with blank sockets. _**“I am sorry, my pretty little star. This will be over, soon. Then we can all rest.”**_

June did not see when the pale arm shot towards her. She barely saw Auggie dash in front of her and knock it away before it could hit her, and she certainly did not follow where the Puppetrix went, after her attack was thwarted.

 _ **“All of you, so beautiful.”** _ The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. _**“This world, it and the people in it, will destroy you, for being so beautiful. We will preserve you, in the perfect images of memory.”**_

The Puppetrix appeared in front of June. She grabbed a string that was not there with all four hands and pulled. June’s chest jerked forward, and she started to glow. The Penumbra was ripped from her chest and into June’s hands. She shrieked in pain and stumbled back, almost dropping the weapon in the process. Her hair and clothing changed in spurts, rather then the normally smooth transitions.

Faye let out a snarl and leapt at the Puppetrix. She vanished, and re-appeared where the feral teen hit the ground. She grabbed Faye by the head, slammed her into the concrete, and then tossed her aside in a broken, bleeding, crumpled heap.

The tuning blades slid out of the Penumbra without June willing it. Before she could do anything, however, Senine let out a shout of anguish and rage, and shot forward, hammer high. When the Puppetrix vanished, she spun and tried to smash the figure now behind her. The Puppetrix caught the hammer with her bare hand, and then shoved, knocking Senine into the air. She appeared behind Senine before she could hit anything and smashed her with a hard fist to her back, sending her sprawling forward.

The Penumbra’s speakers unfolded.

Cassie immediately rushed to Faye, hands glowing even if her body was shaking. The Puppetrix appeared before her, standing over Faye. “Always healing. You have such a precious gift. Shaping and mending flesh.” The Puppetrix advanced on her, and its smile widened. The edges of it cracked, leaking more grey ichor as it did so.

Auggie zoomed in front of Cassie and held her arms out. “Get the fuck away from her!”

The tuning blade started to spin.

 _ **“Love. How sweet.”**_ The Puppetrix leaned in, her face inches from Auggie’s. _ **“She wounded you, and you filled the void that wound left with love. You are a wonderful creature, Augusta. You should have hated her. But you did--”** _ The Puppetrix very suddenly snatched something out of the air, roughly at the same time that a gunshot sounded.

Amber ratcheted another round into the chamber. “Leave her a--”

Then the Puppetrix had her by the throat, having crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. _**“Do you think you can hit me? You do love the impossible, don’t you, Amber? You ‘can’t’ be gay. You ‘can’t’ be magic. But you wanted to be. And now...”** _ The Puppetrix squeezed, and Amber’s flailing grew both more panicked and also more sluggish. _**“You think that you ‘can’t’ die.”**_

June stopped, with her hands just above the strings. She looked at Faye and Senine, both shallowly breathing, bleeding, but otherwise still. She looked to Cassie, desperately trying to feed what little energy she had left into Faye, but having only a few sparks come out. She saw Auggie, Avril, and Janice, weapons ready, seconds from charging the Puppetrix.

June dropped the Penumbra. It faded before it hit the ground, and she was back to normal. She started to walk towards the Puppetrix. “Put her down. You’ve lost.”

The Puppetrix turned towards June, and then casually tossed Amber at Auggie. She caught her totally-not-girlfriend and immediately started attending to her. _**“I have lost? You put down your weapon, dearest June. I do not think I have lost. I could kill you all, right now.”**_

“I know. That’s why you’ve lost.” June stared her in the vacant eyes. “You could have killed us all. But you haven’t. You want me to kill us. That’s why you brought out the Penumbra. You want me to get scared and angry and desperate and try to Finale you. And then you dodge and redirect it and watch me destroy everything I love. I’m not going to do it.” She opened her arms out and held them at her sides. “So kill me. I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of doing it your way.”

 

The Puppetrix moved her head to the side. The gray flesh around her eyes cracked and widened. She then reached forward, and once again ripped the Penumbra out of June and into her hands. June cried out in pain as the transformation began again, but she immediately dropped the Penumbra. She ripped the weapon out once more, her transformation stopping mid-reversion, and going back. June dropped the weapon.

The Puppetrix screamed in frustration and wrapped both upper hands around June’s throat. Her other claws dug into June’s chest, rending a pair of matching, deep, wounds. _**“I am going to feed your heart to Faye. I am going to make her savage nature come free, and force her to devour you and all of your friends.”**_

June reached into her chest and pulled the Penumbra from it, even as spots appeared in her vision, and she felt something pop in her neck. Blood soaked through her Penumbra Coat and the white shirt beneath it. 

No time to play a song, no time even to grip the guitar correctly. June, scrambling for the Penumbra, started to jangle as many strings as she could. She felt the Puppetrix start to release her, start to realize what was happening, but it was too late. Twin bursts of uncontained light and darkness exploded between them. The

Puppetrix was launched backward, the two arms that had been around June’s neck evaporating in a haze of energy.

June tumbled onto her rear, scorched but not in much worse shape than she was. She got a better grip on the Penumbra, and stood at the ready.

The Puppetrix fell onto her back in a burning heap. Water pulled up around her, taking her off of the ground and keeping her submerged. Before she could try to push out of the water, a prolonged bolt of lightning shot into the cube of water. The Puppetrix writhed and screamed and tried to escape, but neither Auggie nor Avril was in any hurry to let up.

The tuning blade slid out from the Penumbra. June started to play a song.

The Puppetrix’s arms reached out of the water and tried to find purchase, fighting against the shocks running through them. The ground they grabbed cracked and grew red hot, burning her grey flesh so quickly it sloughed off. The water was filling with grey ichor, now.

Janice’s hands, both pressed to the ground, were glowing. Auggie’s muscles were twitching and spasming. Avril’s body was shaking with exertion.

“Dark Star Riot!” June called, and a blast of black and white energy shot through the water cube like a lance.

June fell back, her Penumbra outfit, and the weapon itself, fading. Auggie turned around and immediately knelt next to Amber, who was still coughing and trying to catch her breath. Avril fell onto her rear, and then stripped off her coat, which had drenched through, along with her shirt, with sweat. Cassie limped over to Senine and put a few more sparks of energy into her before her legs gave out and she sat next to her.

“...help...”

June’s eyes snapped over to the place where the Puppetrix had been. She got to her feet and started to limp over to the crater.

Faye was with her, still favoring her arm, but standing and alive. June took her good hand, and, together, they reached crater where the Puppetrix had been.

There was a girl, here, with greenish skin and bright eyes, whose pained expression looked like it would have been better suited to a smile. 

She was also dying.

She looked up at June with vague panic in her eyes. “...i’m sorry. i’m sorry. it hurts, it hurts, i’m sorry.”

June walked over to her and knelt down next to her. She put her hand on the girl who had been the Puppetrix’s. Faye’s eyes were watering, and she said, “It’s okay.

It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

“i was so scared and alone and...and she took that and i hurt people i’m sorry i’m sorry i tried to hurt you and...and...” The lights in her eyes slowly dimmed. June squeezed her hand. “i tried to hurt you and...and you’re s-so...s-so beautiful.”

The lights in her eyes went out, and she laid still.

June did not even realize the she was crying until Faye buried her head in her chest and sobbed.

 

*****

 

Three weeks later, June was in the library, back in the Tower in Solar City. She had a stack of books in front of her, as well as three, open books, each very large and very old, in front of her.

She looked up when she saw Avril entering the room, in a clean, untucked dress shirt and tight pants. She gave her a smile and a wave, to which Avril nodded.

“Are you busy?”

“Oh, no, just...” June sighed. “Trying to find more information on that ‘Despair’ thing. Of course, everyone seems to know the same two things about it--it’s a great and awful monster from Beyond the Night, and it’s been dead since before recorded history was a thing. You adjusting well?”

“I am.” She ruffled her own hair. “Showers, hot food, clean clothes, tampons--all I need is a haircut and I will have everything on my list.”

June would have laughed, if Avril had sounded like she was joking. “Glad to help.”

“I am...also glad that I am allowed to stay here and that Mr. Vember has not called my guardians.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty good, about that. Do you think you’re going to stick around?”

Avril sat on the edge of the table. “I would like to. I have missed school, in my year on the street. Mr. Vember says I can take a test to see what grade I belong in, and Cassie and Senine have offered to help me study for it.”

“Now all that’s left for you is to find a place to live.” 

She kicked her feet, and glanced over at June. “Mr. Vember’s house is...full.”

“Well....hmmm.” June looked thoughtful. “If my brother’s taking care of you, he’ll get more money, and maybe we can move to a bigger apartment? Or maybe a house for rent? If you wouldn’t mind sharing with me and him.”

Avril frowned, which June had learned was more an indication that she was thinking than anything else. “We will see. Congratulations, by the way, if it is a bit late.”

“...Oh?” June asked. “What for?”

“Your birthday. I did not get the chance to wish you a happy one.”

“Oh...” June looked down at her book. “I don’t really feel like I had one. I mean, yeah, I’m fourteen, now. I’m going into my last year of Junior High. We beat one of the people who gave us the biggest trouble, and now she’s gone for good, but...she was just a scared little girl. Like us. What if we could have saved her? Removed...whatever made her like that in the first place.”

Avril nodded. “Maybe. There are probably others, like her.”

“...Right.” June looked back into the book, and at a particular picture--a crown of woven Blue Stars of Mourning. “There will be. And next time, next time, we’ll find a way to save them.”


End file.
